White-eyed Vireo
I had a couple of hours to spare, so I headed over to the Rockfish Valley Trail where I had been the birding activity manager for 5+ years. Right off the bat, I saw my first of season White-eyed Vireo and an unusual Yellow-rumped Warbler. The warbler had a bit of a yellow tinge in its throat feathers. The eastern Myrtle sub-species has a white throat, and the western Audubon sub-species has a yellow throat. The two sub-species do interbreed in the overlap areas of western Canada, and it would be extremely unusual to see one of these hybrids here in the east. I don't think that the yellow throat tinge is a reflection off of nearby yellow leaves, as the yellow coloring is variable in saturation and white throat feathers are also present. Had I seen this feature in the field, I would have tried to take more more photos of this bird.
White-eyed Vireo
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
I ended up with 23 avian species on this hike, including my first of season Palm Warbler, bringing my 2024 warbler species photographed list total to 19.
Common Yellowthroat
White-throated Sparrow
Palm Warbler
Palm Warbler
Palm Warbler
Palm Warbler
Palm Warbler
Palm Warbler
Palm Warbler
Palm Warbler