Blue Ridge Parkway, VA 7/5/2022

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

The first 14 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and parallel Route 610 between mm. 2 and mm. 4 of the parkway, are my "go-to" warbler photography locations. Since 2007, I have photographed 27 warbler species there. There are basically three different calendar groupings for finding warblers in this area. From late April through about the third week of May, both breeding and migrating warbler species can be found, and the leaf cover isn't too bad for finding them. During September and October most of the breeding species have departed, but large mixed flocks of migrating warblers are common. The period between early July through mid-August is a great time to find recently fledged and first year juvenile warblers who are foraging with their parents, but dense leaf cover can be problemmatic.

I hadn't been up there since June 3, as foot surgery kept me at home. But now that wearing boots and hiking without pain is possible, I went back up there this morning. I really noticed how out-of-practice I had gotten during this hiatus, as it was difficult for me to locate warblers and get them in focus, and the overcast sky didn't help, as it was fairly dark in the dense leaves. From 10:00 a.m. to 12:30, I found and photographed 4 warbler species: American Redstart, Cerulean, Hooded, and Ovenbird, but didn't hear or see the other 4 breeding warbler species there: Black and White, Chestnut-sided, Pine, and Worm-eating.

American Redstarts were the most common and easiest to locate. I saw males, females, and first year birds.

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American Redstart

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American Redstart

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American Redstart

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American Redstart

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American Redstart

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American Redstart

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American Redstart

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American Redstart

I saw several Cerulean Warblers, but the males stayed high up in the trees, and all of my photos of them were out-of-focus. I had better luck with a few females and first year birds that were foraging closer to the ground.

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Cerulean Warbler

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Cerulean Warbler

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Cerulean Warbler

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Cerulean Warbler

I heard a few Hooded Warblers, but only saw one of them.

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American Redstart and Hooded Warbler

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Hooded Warbler

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Hooded Warbler

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Hooded Warbler

I saw two Ovenbirds. The first one flew right in front of me as it crossed the parkway, but it didn't want to have its picture taken. The second Ovenbird was a lot more cooperative.

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Ovenbird

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Ovenbird

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Ovenbird

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Ovenbird

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Ovenbird

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Ovenbird

I ended up with only 15 to 20 avian species this morning, but it was good to get out and go birding up there again.


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