Central Virginia, 5/13-15/19

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

May 13

It rained this morning, and I had a workman come to the house early afternoon, so I only had time for a short hike here in Old Trail (Crozet) later in the afternoon. I saw two Common Yellowthroats and a few other species. There's a small, secluded pond here, and I saw two Wood Ducks and three Hooded Megansers.

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Common Yellowthroat

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Common Yellowthroat

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Wood Ducks and Hooded Merganser

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First year male Orchard Oriole

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Red-shouldered Hawk

May 14

The weather forecast was for sunny skies, 65 degrees, and breezy. The only part the weather guys got correct was the breezy one. Walt Childs and I had planned to bird along Skyline Drive starting at I-64, and head north to at least Pocosin Cabin. Neither of us had seen a Kentucky Warbler so far this year, and this species has nested near the Hightop Mountain Trail parking area for the past few years. When we first got onto Skyline Drive, there was complete cloud cover, and the temperature was 48 degrees. By the time we reached our northernmost birding spot of the day, Big Meadows, it was 41 degrees, and we had intermittent light drizzle at various stops. The wind chill was really cold. I'm glad that I remembered to bring along a sweatshirt, but I wish that I had brought gloves as well. Our first stop was at Sawmill Run Overlook. This is a good spot for Pine Warblers, and we weren't disappointed. A hundred feet or so to the south, I heard a Hooded Warbler and a Black&White Warbler, but didn't try very hard to locate them, as I had been seeing both species all along the first 12 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway the past two weeks.

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Pine Warbler

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Pine Warbler

We heard American Redstarts as we headed north, but didn't plan on stopping until Loft Mountain. When we got to Loft Mountain, the gate was closed, and we had no idea as to why. We continued on the the Hightop Mountain Trail. We didn't see any Kentucky Warblers there, but did see Cerulean Warblers, American Redstarts, and an Ovenbird, as well as Eastern Towhees, Eastern Peewees, and Red-eyed Vireos.

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Cerulean Warbler

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Female American Redstart

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Ovenbird

Our next stop was at Pocosin Cabin. As soon as we parked and starting hiking towards the cabin, we saw three Eastern Towhees.

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Eastern Towhee

Less than a minute later, we had the first of two remarkable birding moments. An Ovenbird flew in and landed a few feet off of the road, and just sat there, looking around and singing. We watched and watched, and it was still there when we continued on.

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Ovenbird

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Ovenbird

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Ovenbird

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Ovenbird

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Ovenbird

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Ovenbird

A minute or so later, a Veery repeated the Ovenbird event.

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Veery

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Veery

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Veery

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Veery

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Veery

These were the longest close-up views I have ever had of these two species. We continued down to and past the cabin, but warblers were few and far between. However, I did see four more Veeries, and heard quite a few more.

May 15

I had a morning appointment in Charlottesville, but decided to try my luck in the early afternoon at Mint Springs Park in Crozet. In some of the previous years, I had seen as many as eight Kentucky Warblers on the Fire Trail, and there were a couple of reports of this species at the park during the past few days. I parked at the large lot, and started my hike up the Fire Trail. About half way up to the horizontal section of the trail, I got my first Kentucky Warbler of the year.

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Kentucky Warbler

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Kentucky Warbler

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Kentucky Warbler

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Kentucky Warbler

I continued up the trail, and heard a few American Redstarts. As I approached the level section of the trail, I heard a Worm-eating Warbler, and it presented itself for a few photos.

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Worm-eating Warbler

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Worm-eating Warbler

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Worm-eating Warbler

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Worm-eating Warbler

On my way down, I saw a couple more American Redstarts, and then saw a female Black-throated Blue Warbler.

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Female Black-throated Blue Warbler

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Female Black-throated Blue Warbler

A short distance later, I got my second Kentucky Warbler of the hike.

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Kentucky Warbler

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Kentucky Warbler

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Kentucky Warbler

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Kentucky Warbler

As I neared the bottom of the trail, I was treated to a Hooded Warbler.

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Hooded Warbler

Well, it was a good three days for warblers, and the Veeries weren't too bad, either!


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