Reddish Knob and Hone Quarry, VA, 4/29/19

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Walt Childs and I went to Reddish Knob in the Allegheny Mountains to look for warblers and Red Crossbills, with a short stop at the nearby Hone Quarry on the way there, where we found a pair of Louisiana Waterthrushes, a male and a female Blackburnian Warbler, a few Northern Parulas, and a few Black and White Warblers. The road into Hone Quarry ws filled with large diameter, deep potholes, but we were able to navigate around them. On Reddish Knob we saw the latter three warbler species, plus Ovenbird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, and Pine Warbler, giving us 10 warbler species for this outing.

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Louisiana Waterthrush

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Male Black and White Warbler

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Female Black and White Warbler

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Male Black and White Warbler

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Male Northern Parula

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Male Northern Parula

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Male Northern Parula

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Male Northern Parula

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Female Blackburnian Warbler

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Male Blackburnian Warbler

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Male Blackburnian Warbler

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Male Blackburnian Warbler

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Male Blackburnian Warbler

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Ovenbird

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Ovenbird

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Ovenbird

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Ovenbird

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Male Yellow-rumped Warbler

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Male Yellow-rumped Warbler

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Male Black-throated Green Warbler

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Male Black-throated Green Warbler

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Male Black-throated Green Warbler

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Male Black-throated Green Warbler

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Male Black-throated Green Warbler

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Male Black-throated Blue Warbler

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Male Black-throated Blue Warbler

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Male Black-throated Blue Warbler

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Male Black-throated Blue Warbler

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Worm-eating Warbler

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Pine Warbler

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Pine Warbler

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Pine Warbler

As we approached the four road intersection on Reddish Knob, Red Crossbills that were gathering gravel flew up into a nearby tree. We counted nine of them: a mix of red males and yellow females. They flew a few minutes later. We decided to head up toward the summit, and look for the Red Crossbills again on our way back down. However, when we got back to the four road intersection, there were four vehicles there, including two large heavy equipment pieces. One was a large bulldozer, and the other looked to be a large backhoe. They must be working on the fire road going up the other direction, and I don't know how long (days?) they will be there. Needless to say, the Red Crossbills were not there.

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Red Crossbill

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Red Crossbill

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Red Crossbills

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Red Crossbills

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Red Crossbills

We saw a good mix of other avian species, including several Red-breasted Nuthatches and a Scarlet Tanager. When we added in several species that we saw on the the way there and back, we totaled 48 avian species for the day.

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Red-breasted Nuthatch

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Red-breasted Nuthatch

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Red-breasted Nuthatch

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Scarlet Tanager

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Hairy Woodpecker

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Red-winged Blackbird


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