Blue Ridge Parkway, VA 9/11/2020

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

It was sunny, hot, and humid in Crozet this morning. The BirdCast radar showed good migration through Virginia overnight, and I was eager to get up in the mountains to see what I might find. But when I got up to Rockfish Gap at 9:20, there were clouds and fog at these elevations. I got onto Route 610, and by the time I got to the old tower, the fog had raised to the treetops, but it was still tough to see birds, and I only had six avian species, and not a single warbler, by the time I got back onto the parkway near mm. 4. I headed south, and as I neared mm. 5, I heard a Hooded Warbler, so I stopped and pulled off onto the road shoulder. There was avian activity on the east side of the parkway, but the birds were far from the road, and the road shoulder was narrow and steep downhill, making it tough for me every time a passing car made me step off of the parkway. This is not a usual warbler site for me, but I wanted to take advantage of the activity, even thought the distance to birds and light fog there made photography difficult.

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Hooded Warbler

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Chestnut-sided Warbler

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American Redstart

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Cape May Warbler

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Cape May Warbler

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Tennessee Warbler

I saw a Scarlet Tanager there, but don't remember ever seeing one with white outer tail feathers.

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Scarlet Tanager

I continued south on the parkway. Just past the visitor center (mm. 5), I encountered dense fog that persisted all the way to just before 3 Ridges Overlook (mm. 13.5). It was 10:30 there, and the fog was once again up at the treetops, but there were few birds to be seen. I headed back north. Hickory Springs was still in dense fog, but the fog was clearing at the south end of the cirque (mm. 7.5), so I stopped. I heard an Ovenbird, but couldn't locate it.

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Indigo Bunting

I got a text message from Tink Moyer who had just arrived at the old tower on Route 610. We decided to meet up at the intersection of 610 and the parkway near mm. 4, and bird north along 610. It was still quiet until just before reaching the old tower. The sun was starting to appear, but most of the birds were flitting about high up in the trees, making it difficult to identify them. I saw three warbler species there: Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, and Chestnut-sided, but didn't know that I had gotten a Chestnut-sided Warbler there until I started processing photos. Tink saw a Black and White Warbler there, but I didn't.

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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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Blackburnian Warbler

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Blackburnian Warbler

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Chestnut-sided Warbler

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Carolina Chickadee

We parked at the old tower, and hiked south. About a 100 yards or so down the road, we encountered a few birds far from the road.

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Black-throated Green Warbler

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Black and White Warbler

As we hiked back to the old tower, I finally got a good warbler photo this morning - a Magnolia, and my 9th warbler species of the day.

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Magnolia Warbler


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