I had lots of errands and chores to do the past three days, but wanted to take advantage of some free time to see if any migrating birds were still around after the previous week of rain. I went first to Lickinghole Creek and Reservoir, and although I logged 21 avian species there, it wasn't very "birdy." The reservoir level was very high, and there wasn't much exposed gravel bar for shorebirds. The only warblers I saw there were three Common Yellowthroats and a single Cape May Warbler. I did see my first-of-season Swamp and White-throated Sparrows.
Common Yellowthroat
Common Yellowthroat
Common Yellowthroat
Cape May Warbler
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Red-shouldered Hawk
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Common Ravens
Lickinghole Creek and Reservoir list:
Mallard
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Carolina Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Gray Catbird
Cape May Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Cardinal
White-throated Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Eastern Phoebe
Common Raven
Eastern Towhee
Tufted Titmouse
I made a quick stop on the way home at the Rockfish Valley Trail where I added five more avian species for the day, but there were very few birds out and about in the early afternoon. I did see a couple of Indigo Buntings. I hadn't seen this species on the trail for a couple of weeks, so they might have been migrating birds rather than summer residents.
Indigo Bunting
Indigo Bunting and Song Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
When I got home, I read that a Red-necked Phalarope had been seen at Leonard's Pond in the Shenandoah Valley, but I didn't have time to go looking for it. A little after 7 p.m. it was starting to get dark outside when I saw a small bat circling above my yard. I thought it might be a good time to try some of the high ISO capabilities of my Canon 7D2 camera body, so I tried capturing a few images at high speed and high ISO. They didn't turn out great, but it is easy to see that it was a bat.
Bat
Bat
Bat
I had a little free time in the morning, so I went over to the nearby Rockfish Valley Trail to see if morning hours would be more productive there than in the early afternoon, but it still wasn't very "birdy." I did see a warbler that was probably a female American Redstart.
American Redstart (?)
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Phoebe
Indigo Bunting
The forecast was for off and on showers during the morning and afternoon, and I wanted to look for the Red-necked Phalarope. I had seen this species once before, but wasn't able to get close for good photos, and hoped that it would be better this time. About half way to Leonard's Pond, it started to rain, but the rain cleared when I arrived there. The Red-necked Phalarope was still there, but did not come close to the road for really good photos.
Red-necked Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
Green-winged Teals, Canada Warblers, Mallards, and Ruddy Ducks were there as well.
Green-winged Teals
Green-winged Teal
Ruddy Duck
As soon as I got back into my car, it started to rain again. I wasn't very far away from Nazarenne Wetlands, so I drove there, and luckily, the rain stopped when I arrived. But the wetlands were flooded from all the rain. I saw a couple of Canada Geese, a few Northern Shovelers and Blue-winged Teals, and two Eastern Meadowlarks.
Northern Shovelers
Northern Shoveler
Northern Shovelers and Blue-winged Teals
Eastern Meadowlark
Eastern Meadowlark