It was really cloudy today, with possible rain in the forecast, but with winds turned to northeasterly, I wanted to see what birds might be moving into the area. The heavy cloud cover made photography a challenge. Not only was there little light for good exposures, there wasn't much light being reflected from the ground and other surface features to illuminate birds above me, and most of them appeared almost in silhouuette.
I started birding on Route 610 after exiting the Blue Ridge Parkway at mm. 2, and soon stopped when there was a lot of avian activity. In addition to Titmice, Nuthatches, Chickadees, a Scarlet Tanager, a Red-eyed Vireo, and a Downy Woodpecker, I was able to find four warbler species, and there may have been more.
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
American Redstart
Red-eyed Vireo
Scarlet Tanager
Downy Woodpecker
Tufted Titmice
It was quiet all the rest of the way south until I got to Hickory Springs Overlook (mm. 12) where I logged two Hooded Warblers. One of them was my "buddy," who let me take as many photos as I wanted, and I was able to compensate for the poor lighting.
Hooded Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Hooded Warbler
I returned to the start of the parkway, saw a Red-tailed Hawk on Route 610 on the way there, and joined the Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch group for an hour or so. In addition to Black and Turkey Vultures, I saw some Broad-winged Hawks, a Bald Eagle, and Osprey, two Peregrine Falcons a few minutes apart, and two Merlins flying together.
Red-tailed Hawk
Bald Eagle; Osprey
Both Peregrine Falcons (left) and Merlin (right)
Broad-winged Hawk
11 of 12 Broad-winged Hawks in a small kettle
At this point, I had logged 5 warbler species and 8 raptor species, but I wasn't done yet. I had some errands to run in Crozet this afternoon, but had time to do a very quick hike along a creek near my home in Old Trail before then.
Juvenile (dark eye) White-eyed Vireo
Common Yellowthroat
First year(?) Song Sparrow
Red-shouldered Hawk