Blue Ridge Parkway, VA 8/20/2020

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

It was a beautiful day to be birding, but I got a late start. My first stop was at the old tower on Route 610 near mm. 2 of the parkway. I had 8 avian species at that stop, including a female American Redstart and a Black-throated Green Warbler. The Black-throated Green Warbler was certainly a migrating bird, as I hadn't see this species there all summer.

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Female American Redstart

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Female American Redstart

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First fall male/adult female Black-throated Green Warbler

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First fall male/adult female Black-throated Green Warbler

I continued south on 610, and added 6 more avian species, including a first fall female Cerulean Warbler.

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Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

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Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and Indigo Bunting

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Red-eyed Vireo

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First fall female Cerulean Warbler

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First fall female Cerulean Warbler

I got back onto the parkway at mm. 4, and headed south. It was fairly quiet. At Hickory Springs Overlook (mm. 12), I heard a Hooded Warbler, but could not see it. I did see a few American Goldfinches.

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American Goldfinch

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American Goldfinches

Road crews were mowing the road shoulders and another vehicle had a large and loud blower going to blow the cut grass off of the road. The birds must have been spooked, so I turned around and got back onto Route 610 at mm. 4 of the parkway. There was quite a bit of avian activity at one of my favorite warbler stops on 610. There were Tufted Titmice, Carolina Chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatches, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Eastern Wood-Pewees, and a first year Downy Woodpecker.

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Ruby-throated Hummingbird

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Eastern Wood-Pewee

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Downy Woodpecker

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Downy Woodpecker

And I got three male warbler species at that stop.

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Male American Redstart

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Male Cerulean Warbler

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Male Hooded Warbler

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Male Hooded Warbler

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Male Hooded Warbler

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Male Hooded Warbler

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Male Hooded Warbler

I ended the outing with 24 avian species.


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