Blue Ridge Parkway, VA 8/10/2020

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

It was supposed to be sunny this morning, but there were more clouds than sun most of the morning. I decided to go directly to my favorite warbler sites on the parkway, and bird along Route 610 between mm. 4 and mm. 2 on my return. Hopefully, there would be fewer weekday cars and motorcycles on the parkway than yesterday. At the south, upper end of the large cirque (mm. 7.5), I heard a Cerulean Warbler and an American Redstart, but I did not see them. So I headed south to Hickory Springs Overlook (mm. 12). Just north of the parking area, I found a male Hooded Warbler foraging in the dense brush. It was making its chink call. New feathers were coming in.

Photo Unavailable
Male Hooded Warbler

Photo Unavailable
Male Hooded Warbler

Photo Unavailable
Male Hooded Warbler

Just to the south of the parking area, another Hooded Warbler was singing its dawn song. It kept flying to different branches, but started singing each time.

Photo Unavailable
Male Hooded Warbler

Photo Unavailable
Male Hooded Warbler

Photo Unavailable
Male Hooded Warbler

I heard a couple of Ovenbirds making their chewk call but did not see them, and then saw a male American Redstart

Photo Unavailable
Male American Redstart

And then I found a pair of Cerulean Warblers.

Photo Unavailable
Female Cerulean Warbler

Photo Unavailable
Male Cerulean Warbler

Photo Unavailable
Cerulean Warblers

Photo Unavailable
Cerulean Warblers

It wasn't as "birdy" as I had hoped, so I turned around. I had logged only 19 avian species by the time I got to Route 610 at mm. 4 of the parkway. This road started out quiet as well, but I ended up logging 7 more avian species in that 2 mile stretch, and most of them in the same area. I stopped at one of my favorite warbler areas on that road, and soon got some quick, but good looks at another male Hooded Warbler. A few feet farther down the road, there was all kinds of avian activity. I got my 5th warbler species of the morning - a Worm-eating Warbler, and the sun even came out for a few minutes.

Photo Unavailable
Worm-eating Warbler

Photo Unavailable
Worm-eating Warbler

Photo Unavailable
Worm-eating Warbler

Photo Unavailable
Worm-eating Warbler

I saw 4 or 5 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, about the same number of them that I have seen in total all summer.

Photo Unavailable
Ruby-throated Hummingbird

And I got a few good photos of a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

Photo Unavailable
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Photo Unavailable
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Photo Unavailable
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Photo Unavailable
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

I'm still waiting for mixed flocks of migrating warblers- just two to three weeks away.


E-mail comments on this report

Return to blog page home