The BirdCast radar has been showing good migration through Virginia each night, but the birds don't seem to have stopped where I have been birding in the mornings!
September 24I got an early start this morning, but it didn't do much for me. When I got to Route 610 a little after 8 a.m., it was too dark for birding with the low sun angle and dense tree cover. I heard a few birds but couldn't see them. So I decided to try the Blue Ridge Parkway. I was not happy when I saw about a dozen bear hunters running their dogs right along the cirque - my favorite warbler site up there. They can't hunt in the national forest, but they can train their dogs to run with GPS collars. I continued all the way down to Three Ridges Overlook, but only saw a few avian species.
3 Hairy Woodpeckers
Red-eyed Vireos
I returned to Route 610, and this time saw three warbler species and a few other birds.
Northern Parula
Northern Parula
Northern Parula
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Common Yellowthroat
Common Yellowthroat
Wood Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
Indigo Bunting
Eastern Towhee
I then did some birding at Ridgeview Park, but didn't see any species worth reporting. On my return, I tried along Route 610 again, but it was quiet, except for a bear that ran across the road in front of me.
September 25I tried Route 610 this morning, but it was really quiet. I only saw one warbler species. I tried the parkway before the weekend traffic got heavy, but only saw a few birds there.
Black-throated Green Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
American Goldfinch
Carolina Chickadee
I started off on the parkway and Route 610, but there were very few birds. I only had 7 or 8 avian species, and not a single warbler. I then drove over to Lickinghole Creek and Basin. I got there at 11:00 a..m., and it was really quiet. I hiked along the creek and then to the far end of the basin, and saw/heard very few birds. I saw a flycatcher that was probably a Pewee, but it had a fairly bold eye-ring, and I did not hear it singing.
Pair of Great Egrets
Great Blue Heron
Flycatcher
South of the basin and before the turn along the creek, I stopped when I saw two warblers. One of them was a Common Yellowthroat.
Common Yellowthroat
Common Yellowthroat
The other one may have been a Common Yellowthroat, but its split eye-ring makes me think a fall plumaged Mourning Warbler (would be my 42 warbler species photographed in 2021). Comments?
Common Yellowthroat(?) or Mourning Warbler(?)
Common Yellowthroat(?) or Mourning Warbler(?)
Common Yellowthroat(?) or Mourning Warbler(?)
Common Yellowthroat(?) or Mourning Warbler(?)
I continued on the Crozet Connector Trail, and in the field, thought I had an Organe-crowned Warbler - split eye-ring, yellow undertail coverts, and blurry breast streaking. But after processing the photos, there isn't much of a split eye-ring, there's not much yellow in its underside, and the blurry breast streaking looks to be ruffled breast feathers, so I think that it was another Common Yellowthroat.
Common Yellowthroat
Common Yellowthroat
Common Yellowthroat
Common Yellowthroat
Common Yellowthroat
Common Yellowthroat