Boy, did I make an incorrect call this morning! With an overnight cool front that moved through the area, I was sure that the first 12 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway would be loaded with migrating warblers, and I eagerly anticipated what I might find there. But as it turned out, I logged 12 avian species on the first 14 miles of the parkway, and none of them were warblers. :-(
I decided to try the Rockfish Valley Trail down in Nellysford, where I had been the birding activity manager for more than 5 years, but changes to trail and adjacent property habitat about 4 years ago really reduced to number and species of birds there. Although I didn't expect to find much, I still knew where birds might be found, and added 18 additonal species to my day list, including 3 warbler species.
Gray Catbird
Scarlet Tanager
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Downy Woodpecker
Female American Redstart
Female American Redstart
Magnolia Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Common Yellowthroat
Cedar Waxwings
Red-shouldered Hawk and Cedar Waxwing
Red-eyed Vireo
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Empidonax Flycatcher
Indigo Bunting
Juvenile Eastern Bluebird
At one point, an accipter species hawk flew low over my head. I only got a quick look and a very fuzzy photo, but I think that it was a juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk.
Accipiter
I decided to continue birding in the Stoney Creek (Rockfish Valley section of Wintergreen) where I used to live. It was close to noon by then, and there weren't many birds out, but I found a Pine Warbler in the small pine forest down the street from where I lived. I ended the morning with 33 avian species.
Pine Warbler
Pine Warbler