Rockfish Valley, VA 9/27/2019

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Boy, did I make an incorrect call this morning! With an overnight cool front that moved through the area, I was sure that the first 12 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway would be loaded with migrating warblers, and I eagerly anticipated what I might find there. But as it turned out, I logged 12 avian species on the first 14 miles of the parkway, and none of them were warblers. :-(

I decided to try the Rockfish Valley Trail down in Nellysford, where I had been the birding activity manager for more than 5 years, but changes to trail and adjacent property habitat about 4 years ago really reduced to number and species of birds there. Although I didn't expect to find much, I still knew where birds might be found, and added 18 additonal species to my day list, including 3 warbler species.

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Gray Catbird

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Scarlet Tanager

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Rose-breasted Grosbeak

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Downy Woodpecker

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Female American Redstart

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Female American Redstart

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Magnolia Warbler

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Common Yellowthroat

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Common Yellowthroat

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Cedar Waxwings

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Red-shouldered Hawk and Cedar Waxwing

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Red-eyed Vireo

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Eastern Phoebe

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Eastern Wood-Pewee

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Empidonax Flycatcher

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Indigo Bunting

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Juvenile Eastern Bluebird

At one point, an accipter species hawk flew low over my head. I only got a quick look and a very fuzzy photo, but I think that it was a juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk.

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Accipiter

I decided to continue birding in the Stoney Creek (Rockfish Valley section of Wintergreen) where I used to live. It was close to noon by then, and there weren't many birds out, but I found a Pine Warbler in the small pine forest down the street from where I lived. I ended the morning with 33 avian species.

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Pine Warbler

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Pine Warbler


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