Blue Ridge Parkway/Route 610, VA 9/3-4/18

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

September 3

We should be into a full week of warbler migration here in central Virgnia, but the continuing hot weather has really put a damper on bird movements. A new tool that I am using this year are the live migration maps made available by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Advanced weather radars can now detect large flocks of birds and their movement direction, and these maps show migratory intesity and direction. As most warblers migrate at night, looking at these maps for the previous night can help quite a bit to know what I might expect to find. As you can see from the midnight map to the right, there was very little migratory movement through Virginia, although quite a bit moving onto the Mississippi Valley. In fact, the direction arrows in Virginia show movement towards the northwest, rather than southerly migration.

I decided to go birding on my usual route on the first 12 miles of the parkway, even though I knew there would be a lot of Labor Day traffic up there. I ended up with 20 avian species this morning, but the only warbler species I saw was Hooded, and this warbler species is a summer resident along this section of the parkway.

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Migration map for the previous midnight (September 3)

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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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Carolina Chickadee

I got a quick look and partial photo of a bird that looked like a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak, but I can't confirm this for sure in the photo.

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Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak ?

I saw a Turkey Vulture with a few leucistic wing feathers, a Red-tailed Hawk, and a quick look at another hawk that was most likely a Broad-winged.

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Turkey Vulture

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Red-tailed Hawk

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Broad-winged Hawk ?

September 4

The migration map for last night looked a bit better for birding on the parkway this morning, and I knew that there would be a lot less traffic today! Note this southerly direction arrows over Virginia.

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Migration map for the previous midnight (September 4)

I had seen a dozen or so species, but no warblers, by the time I reached the northern (lower) end of the cirque (near mm. 7.5), when I head a lot of avian activity. There were at least four warbler species there in a small mixed flock.

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Tennessee Warbler

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Tennessee Warbler

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Black-throated Green Warbler trying to figure out if it had a meal

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Black-throated Green Warbler

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Black-throated Green Warbler

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Black-throated Green Warbler

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Northern Parula

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Northern Parula

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Northern Parula

I got a quick glimpse of another warbler species, and based on its grayish coloring, white wing-bar, white tail marks, and yellow rump, I think that it was a Magnolia Warbler.

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Magnolia Warbler ?

I continued all the way to the Three Ridges Overlook (mm. 13), but didn't see any more warblers.

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Ruby-throated Hummingbird

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American Goldfinch

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Hairy Woodpecker

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Red-eyed Vireo

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Scarlet Tanager


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