Allegheny Mountains, VA/WVA 6/25/2020

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Tink Moyer and I took separate vehicles to look for three, low probability of finding, target bird species. The first two were Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warblers along Route 614 (Cowpasture River Road) near McDowell in Highland County, and the third target species was the Mourning Warbler seen last month and early this month near the four road intersection of Reddish Knob. I had seen both of the first two species along Route 614 in June 2012, Blue-winged Warblers there in May 2014, and a Lawrence's Warbler (BW x GW hybrid) in June 2017. But I had been there just as many times without success. I know that we could have had a higher chance of success if we had gone to the Blue Grass Valley for Golden-winged Warblers and Paddy Knob for Mourning Warblers, but that was a lot longer drive, there was a chance of isolated afternoon thunderstorms. Also, we could take Route 614 all the way into West Virginia where it becomes CR 21, and then go up the West Virginia side of the road up to Reddish Knob.

We got to Route 614 mid-morning, but it was fairly quiet. We heard two warbler species, Hooded and Worm-eating, but didn't see either of them. We had been there about 45 minutes when the sky got very dark and it started to drizzle. The future radar map I have checked earlier in the morning showed less rain to the north, so we headed off to Reddish Knob. There was light rain all the way to Moyers Gap, but as soon as we started the ascent up to Reddish Knob, the sky cleared and there was a mix of blue sky and white clouds. Tree foliage was vey dense, making seeing birds difficult, and photographing them even more of a challenge. On the way up, we saw Black-throated Green and Black-throated Blue Warblers, heard and got a quick look at a flying Hooded Warbler before it disappeared in the tree canopy, and heard an Ovenbird.

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Black-throated Green Warbler

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Black-throated Green Warbler

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Black-throated Green Warbler

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Black-throated Blue Warbler

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Black-throated Blue Warbler

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Black-throated Blue Warbler

We arrived at the four road intersection and decided to go up FR 85 in the direction away from the summit towards Route 539, rather than towards the summit. We didn't find the Mourning Warbler, nor did we see any Red Crossbills. We did see a couple of American Redstarts and heard a Common Yellowthroat.

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American Redstart

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Juvenile Dark-eyed Junco

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Eastern Towhee

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Eastern Wood-Pewee

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Eastern Phoebe

We made one stop on the way down Briery Branch Road on the Virginia side. It was the same location where we had seen Pine and Hooded Warblers on June 2. We heard a Hooded Warbler, and saw a Pine Warbler at this stop.

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Pine Warbler

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Pine Warbler

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American Goldfinch

At this same stop, we also some some interesting avian behavior. A pair of Cedar Waxwings were working on a nest in one of the pine trees, but when they saw us, they stayed away from the nest, presumably fearing us as possible predators, and not want to alert us to the nest location.

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Cedar Waxwing at nest

Soon after getting back into our vehicles and starting down, a Black and White Warbler flew across the road right in front of my car. It was our 9th warbler species of the day. I stopped and got out to look for it, but it was gone. We made a quick stop at the Nazarene Wetlands, added a few more species to our day list, and ended up with 44 avian species. We didn't get our target birds, but had a fun outing.


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