I birded the Blue Ridge Parkway today, 14 September, beginning at Afton (I-64 &
the Parkway) and working south to approx MM 18. The Humpback Rocks picnic area
(MM 8) provided the most interesting and diverse birding. My final daylist
included these 11 warbler species (abundance estimate in parantheses):
Black-throated Green Warbler (9)
Chestnut-sided Warbler (6)
Tennessee Warbler (5)
American Redstart (4)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (4)
Black and White Warbler (3)
Cape May Warbler (3, including a particularly well-marked adult male)
Magnolia Warbler (2)
Pine Warbler (2)
Northern Parula (1)
Blackburnian Warbler (1).
Other species of interest included Blue-headed and Yellow-throated Vireo (1
each), Scarlet Tanager (1 female), and several Broad-winged Hawks at the
Rockfish Gap Hawkwatch. The day's butterflies included 19 Monarchs on their way
to Mexico.
Mark Adams
Charlottesville
