Reddish Knob, VA 6/26/2019

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Walt Childs and I decided to beat the high temperatures at lower elevations, and try our luck up on Reddish Knob in the Allegheny Mountains. We didn't expect to see any new warbler species, but were looking forward to finding some juvenile warblers. And seeing Red Crossbills up there is always a treat. We saw a handful of avian species on the way there, and stopped first at the creek just past the reservoir. We saw and heard a Northern Parula flitting about high in the trees, but I was unable to get any photos of it. A short way up Briery Branch Road past there, we got some good looks at a Pine Warbler.

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Pine Warbler

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Pine Warbler

As we approached the four road intersection, two Red Crossbills flew from the trees. A Chestnut-sided Warbler was singing loudly.

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Chestnut-sided Warbler

Fire Road 85 leading to Flagpole Knob has been worked on. Last month when we were there, there was a sign prohibiting vehicular traffic, and a closed gate was blocking the road. This morning, the gate was open, but the sign was still there, so we hiked up to the open meadow. Along the way, we met two other birders from the Front Royal area. There were a few warbler and other species on that short hike.

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Chestnut-sided Warbler

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Female American Redstart

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Common Yellowthroat

I was able to photograph a juvenile warbler that I cannot identify with any certainty. Unfortunately, it was in a shaded area and backlit, so the colors are not very good, and the few photos I got of it in sunlight were when the warbler was behind small branches. But I can see two wing-bars, a split eye-ring, darker color on the breast, and slight streaking on the belly. It's back appears to be brown. There a few warbler species that it could be, but the two most likely are Yellow-rumped and Pine. I haven't ever seen Pine Warblers at that high of an elevation, but I have seen Yellow-rumped in the past near there, so it most like was the latter.

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Unidentified juvenile warbler

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Unidentified juvenile warbler

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Unidentified juvenile warbler

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Unidentified juvenile warbler

We returned to the four road intersection, and headed up towards the summit. We stopped a short distance up that road where Black-throated Green and Blackburnian Warblers like to forage. We weren't disappointed, although the juvenile Black-throated Green photos I got were a bit blurry.

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Male Black-throated Green Warbler

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Adult and juvenile Black-throated Green Warblers

The highlight of the trip for me was the Blackburnian Warblers. I was watching a juvenile when mama showed up with some food for it.

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Juvenile Blackburnian Warbler

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Adult female and Juvenile Blackburnian Warblers

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Adult female and Juvenile Blackburnian Warblers

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Adult female and Juvenile Blackburnian Warblers

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Adult female and Juvenile Blackburnian Warblers

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Adult female and Juvenile Blackburnian Warblers

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Adult female and Juvenile Blackburnian Warblers

We continued up toward the summit, and just past the "razorback" section of the road, we saw a female and a male Canada Warbler.

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Female Canada Warbler

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Male Canada Warbler

Just past the last road fork near the summit, we had another female Canada Warbler, a Chestnut-sided Warbler, and a male Black-throated Blue Warbler. I disn't get any in-focus shots of the Black-throated Blue.

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Chestnut-sided Warbler

We made our way back down to the four road intersection, and this time we saw a juvenile Red Crossbill.

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Red-Crossbill

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Red-Crossbill

We turned and drove about a mile down the West Virginia side, but it was quiet. We did see a juvenile bird that we couldn't identify. My best guess is an Indigo Bunting.

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Unidentified juvenile species

We then headed down the Virginia side on Briery Branch Road, and had logged 42 avian species so far, including 9 warbler species. The unidentified juvenile warbler and the unidentified species above are not included in that total.

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American Goldfinch

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Black-capped Chickadee

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Chipping Sparrow

I do have a sad note to report. Walt and I drive Briery Branch Road at slow speeds as we are looking and listening for birds, but some of the younger folks and pick-up truck drivers really drive fast there. On the way down, we stopped when we saw two birds in the road. It was a female Scarlet Tanager standing next to its mate that had been struck and killed.

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Scarlet Tanagers

We stopped at the creek again, and this time I was abler to get a few Northern Parula photos.

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Northern Parula

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Northern Parula

On the way home, we made a stop and we ended the day trip with 49 avian species.


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