Blue Ridge Parkway, VA 9/22/2020

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

I got up to the parkway at 9:00, and decided to go directly to the upper, south end of the cirque (mm. 7.5). At 9:20, that site was quiet, but at 9:30, the avian alarm clock went off, and there were birds everywhere. I stayed there until about 11:00, and had 25 avian species including 9 warbler species within about 100 feet from where I had parked.

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Bay-breasted Warbler

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Bay-breasted Warbler

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Bay-breasted Warbler

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Blackpoll Warbler

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Blackpoll Warbler

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Blackpoll Warbler

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Blackpoll 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

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Cape May Warbler

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Cape May Warbler

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Cape May Warbler

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Cape May Warbler

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Cape May Warbler

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Cape May Warbler

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Chestnut-sided Warblers

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Chestnut-sided Warblers

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Chestnut-sided Warblers

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Chestnut-sided Warbler

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Magnolia Warbler

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Magnolia Warbler

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Magnolia Warbler

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Magnolia Warbler

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Northern Parula

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Tennessee Warbler

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Tennessee Warbler

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Tennessee Warbler

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Tennessee Warbler

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Tennessee Warbler

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Tennessee Warbler

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Wilson's Warbler

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Wilson's Warbler

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Wilson's Warbler

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Wilson's Warbler

The non-warbler species were neat to see as well.

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Gray-cheeked Thrush

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Gray-cheeked Thrush

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Swainson's Thrush

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Rose-breasted Grosbeak

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Ruby-crowned Kinglet

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Red-eyed Vireo

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Scarlet Tanager

Tink Moyer met me up at the cirque about 1/2 way through my stay there, and then we went down to Route 610, where I added 8 more avian species to my day list. The only warblers on Route 610 that we saw were a single Tennessee Warbler, and my 10th warbler species of the morning - Hooded. We heard two of the Hooded Warblers making their chink calls, and one of them flew back and forth across 610, but disappeared before I could get any photos of it.


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