I only had time for a shorter, 1-1/2 hour hike, so I stayed here in Old Trail this morning. Birding was good, and I ended up with 35 avian species. It was neat to see Yellow-rumped Warblers in various stages of molt from non-breeding to breeding plumage.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Great Blue Heron
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Pine Siskin
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
White-crowned Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-necked Duck
With more time for birding than yesterday, I decided to explore a bit. I've been up on the first four miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway and parallel Route 610 a few times this year, but with little green vegetation at those elevations, I hadn't gone farther. This morning, I decided to go all the way to Reids Gap at mm. 14. The parkway wasn't "birdy" at all, and I saw only eight avian species there.
Pine Warbler
Pine Warbler
I took Route 664 down from Reids Gap and stopped at the Rockfish Valley Trail. It was fairly quiet there as well, and I added 7 more avian species to my morning list.
Eastern Meadowlark
Chipping Sparrow
My last stop was at Stoney Creek (Wintergreen) where Alice and I lived for 10 years. It was quiet as well, and I added 8 more avian spieces to my morning list, including only 2 new species that I hadn't seen in Old Trail yesterday. But the redbuds were in full bloom, making for an enjoyable morning there.
Swamp Sparrow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Pine Warbler
When I got home, there was a Grapevine Epimenis Moth on our garage floor - a new bug species for me.
Grapevine Epimenis Moth