Central Virginia 9/10/2020

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

It was not a great birding day. We had rain overnight, and off and on rain forecasted for today. But I checked the BirdCast radar loop, and it showed that there was good southward migration that stopped in central Virginia during the middle of the night, and I wondered if there might be a warbler fallout. However, the mountains were shrouded in fog. I decided to try Lickinghole Creek and Resrvoir, as I hadn't been there since late spring. This site can be good for warblers, but usually later in September through mid-October. Although the temperature was only in the 70s, the dew point waas in the same range, and it was a steam bath. I thought that I had only 17 avian species there, plus an escaped Black Swan, but when I started processing photos, I saw a Spotted Sandpiper giving me 18 species there plus the swan. The vegetation was so thick along the reservoir that it was almost impossible to see the water. I heard a Killdeer and a Mallard, but couldn't see them. In the field along the connector trail, I heard a Common Yellowthroat.

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Great Blue Heron

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Great Egret

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Black Swan

I decided to try Route 610 up in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I go there at 10:45 and it was still foggy. I added four avian species there, plus a Turkey Vulture on the drive there giving me 23 avian species plus the Black Swan for the day. Near the end of my outing, the fog started to lift a little, but that was accompanied by light drizzle. I only had one warbler up there. I think that the two photos below are the same bird, and given the wing bars, yellow breast with perhaps some dark streaking, and white vent area, my best guess is a Magnolia Warbler.

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Magnolia(?) Warbler

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Magnolia(?) Warbler

The weather forecast is crummy until Monday :-(


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