Yellow-throated Warbler
Tink Moyer met me at my house in Crozet, and we drove to Warren Ferry on the Albermarle County side of the James River. Our target species was the Yellow-throated Warbler, and this is a reliable location to see the albilora subspecies ("Sycamore Warbler"). There are large sycamore trees at the small wooden bridge that crosses a small stream that empties into the James River, and Yellow-throated Warblers seem to nest there every summer. I try to go there at least once each year between the second week of April and the first week of May, and over the past decade, have seen 8 warbler species in a small area around the bridge: Black and White, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Parula, Palm, Prothonotary, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, and Yellow-throated. By mid-May, the leaves on the sycamore trees are so large that it is difficult to see birds there. Also, for the past few years as soon it gets warm, a kayak/canoe company has been using this area as a launch site, and there are lots of people talking and waiting for a continuous stream of trucks carrying canoes and kayaks to show up there.
As soon as we arrived and got out of my car, a Yellow-throated Warbler flew down to just above eye level to see who we were. It quickly flew back up higher in the trees for the rest of the time we were there. We logged 17 avian species at Warren Ferry, but the only other warbler species was a Palm Warbler that Tink saw and I missed.
Yellow-throated Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Field Sparrow
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
We left Warren Ferry, and dorve to nearby Totier Creek Park. The area around the paved parking lot was almost devoid of birds. I've never seen it so quiet there. We drove around the basin and parked on the gravel lot near the stream past the dam. There were lots of birds there, including another Yellow-throated Warbler.
Yellow-throated Warbler
There were two Louisiana Waterthushes there as well. One was across the stream that we could not see, but it was singing the typical Louisiana Watherthrush song. The other one was perched for several minutes right next to us. This one was really interesting. I heard it call several times, and its call was more like that of a Northern Waterthrush than a Louisiana. It was also darker brown like a Northern, and it underside streaking was more like a Northern, but its bill was larger than a Northern and more like that of a Louisiana. There were some throat spots, but not as much as on a Northern, and more like what I have seen on some Louisianas. Its white supercilium stripe was fairly even in width, so that wasn't diagnostic. I've debated with myself whether it was a Northern or a Louisiana, and finally decided that it was a Louisiana. Its tail feather extension beyond the undertail coverts are short like that of a Louisiana, and would be significantly longer on a Northern. I am not aware of any hybrid Louisiana x Northern Waterthrushes.
Louisiana Waterthush
Louisiana Waterthush
We stopped on the road near Totier Creek Park where a large grove of Pine Trees is always a good spot to see Pine Warblers, and we were not disappointed.
Pine Warbler
At this point, our combined bird list for the day was 27 avian species. When we got back to Old Trail, we did a little more birding, and our final combined list was 31 avian species for the day. We saw our first of year Common Yellowthroat in the Western Park wetlands area, making it 5 warbler species for the outing.
Common Yellowthroat
I did some birding here in Old Trail this morning, and although I logged 20+ avian species, it wasn't very 'birdy." I did get some better views of a Common Yellowthroat in the wetlands area, and saw a Yellow-rumped Warbler, making it 6 warbler species for this report.
Osprey
Swamp Sparrow
Carolina Chickadee
Pine Warbler
Pine Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-rumped Warbler