Common Yellowthroat
The winds shifted to northerly, and a cool front moved in, dropping temperatures and dew points to comfortable levels, and moving out the fog that was in the mountains the past few days. The only atmospheric issue was haze casued by smoke blown in from west coast forest fires, but that was at 20,000 feet and did not affect bird movement, and only slightly affected lighting for photography. I checked the BirdCast radar, and as expected, there was strong bird migration from the north overnight. My only thought was that the middle of September is the usual time for massive Broad-winged Hawk migration through central Virginia, and was the radar showing warblers, hawks, or both? I met up with Huck Hutchens at the old tower on Route 610. Two birders from Northern Virginia and a couple from Virginia Beach were there as well. There weren't many warblers at the tower by the time I arrived around 9:20. The Virginia Beach couple drove south, and after a few more minutes of not seeing warblers at the tower, I suggested that we drive south on 610 as well. Our next stop was at one of my favorite warbler sites on 610, fairly close to mm. 3 of the Blue Ridge Parkway. There was a mixed flock of warblers there, and the Virginia Beach birders said that they seen a Mourning Warbler there, but it wasn't seen by the time we arrived. We did see Common Yellowthroat, Black-throated Green Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, and Magnolia Warbler at that stop. I got photos of all six of these warbler species at that stop, and a few of the photos are posted here.
Common Yellowthroat
Common Yellowthroat
Tennessee Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Huck and I continued south on 610, and stopped where there were a few birds flitting around. I saw a Bay-breasted Warbler, and another Blackburnian Warbler. When I looked at my photos during processing, I saw that the Blackburnian photos also had a larger, orange breasted bird in the photos; presumably a Baltimore Oriole.
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler and Baltimore Oriole
We continued south on 610, and stopped when I heard a bird in the vegetation. Both Huck and I only got quick looks at it. I only saw its breast - clean pale yellow with no streaking. Huck only saw its head - gray with a complete, white eye-ring. It was most likely a Nashville Warbler. We tried for a while to re-locate it without success. But we did find a Blue-headed Vireo. When we got to the intersection with the parkway near mm. 4, I decided to go back north on 610, and Huck decided to continue down 610 in the direction of Lyndhurst. I stopped at the same spot were we had the Nashville Warbler, and then where I had the Bay-breasted and Blackburnian Warblers, but both sites were quiet.
Blue-headed Vireo
When I got to the site where we had a warbler flock earlier, I texted Huck. There were warblers everywhere.
Black and White Warbler
Black and White Warbler
Black and White Warbler
Black and White Warbler
Black and White Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Ovenbird
Tennessee Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
At one point, a warbler landed right in front of me. I got my camera on it, got it in focus, and my brain thought, "Canada Warbler," as I saw a yellow breast, a grayish head and back, and a darkish bib. My camera was on burst mode, taking 8 to 10 photos per second if I keep the shutter button pressed. But I only saw it for an instant before it flew. And then I thought "Could it have been the Mourning Warbler seen there earlier by the Virginia Beach birders?" I eagerly clicked on my view finder to see. I had taken four photos in that 1/2 second, but couldn't see any bird in my photos?? Did I have the camera pointed on the wrong branch? No, I had seen the bird through the lens. It must have flown away just before the shutter mechansim fired off the shots. Drats! But when I got home and started processing my photos, I saw part of the bird in the upper corner of the first photo. The white vent meant Canada Warbler, and not a Mourning Warbler that would have had a yellow vent.
Canada Warbler
There were several non-warbler species at that stop as well. Two of the Eastern Wood-Pewee photos are worth posting.
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Wood-Pewee
I also had three vireo species mixed in with the warblers there.
Red-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
The highlight of the day for me was the third vireo species - Philadelphia. This is the third time I have encountered Philadelphia Vireos up in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and each time this species was with a large, mixed flock of warblers.
Philadelphia Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
By the time Huck arrived, the warblers were gone, but Huck thought it was worth waiting to see if they returned. In 20 minutes, most of them were back. I added a few photos of a male Black-throated Blue Warbler, but all of them were of its backside, and not worth posting. The flock left, and then returned again 20 minutes later. I then headed for home with 600+ photos to look at and process. That night I checked the Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch results, just two miles north of the old tower on 610 - 6,865 raptors that day, including 6,825 Broad-winged Hawks. It was quite a day on the mountain!