[Va-bird] Highland County RAPTORTHON (100 species, 18 warblers) (Delayed report from Saturday)
- From: Gabriel Mapel <birdmangabriel@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: shenvalbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 5 May 2015 13:11:45 -0700
Hi all,
Sorry for the delayed report. This past Saturday (May 2nd) Rockfish Gap Hawk
Watch's Team "Fly Like an Eagle" (Brenda Tekin, Penny Warren, and me) set out
on our annual all-day RAPTORTHON fundraiser to Highland County.
We started off at 6:30am at the Confederate Breastworks along Hwy 250 on the
Augusta/Highland County border and tallied our first 19 species. Highlights
included a distant calling Barred Owl, 1 Black-capped Chickadee, 3
Gnatcatchers, a nice array of Warblers (4 Ovenbird, 1 Worm-eating, 2
Black-and-white, 2 Cape May, 1 Magnolia, 1 Black-throated Blue, 2
Black-throated Green), 1 Scarlet Tanager, and a flyover flock of 13 Pine
Siskin.
From here we headed west deep into Highland County birding Hwy 250 from the
Breastworks to Monterey. Along the first stretch of this road (10 miles from
the Breastworks to McDowell) we tallied 39 species with highlights: 1 Northern
Goshawk (an adult flyover seen by Penny & Brenda), 1 Killdeer, 1 Great Crested
Flycatcher, 1 Raven, 1 BC Chickadee, 1 House Wren, 2 Gnatcatcher, 1 Wood
Thrush, 7 warbler species (9 Ovenbird, 2 Worm-eating, 3 Golden-winged, 4
Black-and-white, 1 Hooded, 2 Redstart, 1 Northern Parula), both Oriole species
(1 Orchard & 2 Baltimore), and 1 Pine Siskin at the McDowell feeders. The
second stretch of this road from McDowell-Monterey was much quieter and we
only saw a few repeat warblers. Before reaching Monterey we drove along Rte
631 (Rich Hills Rd) and added 2 Wood Duck, 1 Pileated Woodpecker, 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and another Wood Thrush.
Traveling south from Monterey on Hwy 220 we had 1 Bobolink between Monterey and
Hwy 84. Traveling Hwy 84 from Hwy 220 to the WV State Line we had 31 species
with highlights: 1 Red-breasted Merganser (female at a small roadside pond), 1
Kingfisher, 1 Least Flycatcher, 1 Cliff Swallow, and warblers (4 Ovenbird, 1
Louisiana Waterthrush, 3 Black-and-white, 1 Redstart, 1 Cape May, 1 Parula, 2
Yellow, 2 Black-throated Green). Traversing Paddy Knob in Bath County for the
next nearly 3 hours we added 1 Ruffed Grouse, 1 Wild Turkey that trotted across
the road in front of us, 2 different male/female pairs of Yellow-bellied
Sapsucker, 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 2 more Least Flycatchers, 2 Blue-headed Vireos,
1 Veery, 1 Hermit Thrush, 7 warbler species (11 Ovenbird, 6 Black-and-white, 1
adult male Nashville seen well by all of us, 3 Redstart, 5 Blackburnian, 2
Black-throated Blue, 10 Black-throated Green), and a Grasshopper Sparrow.
Heading back north of Hwy 84 as we passed Meadowdale Rd we spotted an adult
Bald Eagle flying, possibly one from the nearby nest site. Birding Dug Bank Rd
from Hwy 84-Hwy 250 we added 1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird, 1 Red-headed
Woodpecker, 3 Flicker, another Least Flycatcher, and 1 Eastern Kingbird. Once
we shot up to Blue Grass we headed west into the mountains on Laurel Fork Rd.
Highlights of 35 species included: 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk picked up by Brenda, 2
more Ruffed Grouse (both seen well including one that we nearly hit!), another
Hummingbird, 2 more Kingfishers, 2 more Flickers, 1 E. Wood-Pewee, 1 Acadian
Flycatcher, 2 Swainson's & 2 Hermit Thrushes, warblers (3 C. Yellowthroats at
Straight Fork, 2 Blackburnian, 1 Yellow-rumped, and 4 Black-throated Green), 1
Field Sparrow, 2 Vesper Sparrows right before the road enters the forest west
of Blue Grass, 1 Swamp Sparrow at Straight Fork, and another Baltimore Oriole.
On our way back on Laurel Fork Rd
west of Straight Fork we hit a very active pocket of bird and added 3 birds
within 2 minutes! (2 Brown Creepers, 3 Red-breasted Nuthatches, and a
Golden-crowned Kinglet).
We then spent an hour working through the Blue Grass Valley and saw repeat
Hummingbird, Great Crested Flycatcher, Kingbird, Cliff Swallows, and Yellow
Warbler, and added one new bird -- N. Rough-winged Swallow. At Forks of Water
we tried and failed for Warbling Vireo but added a Palm Warbler (Western
subspecies). At the Fish Hatchery along Hwy 220 just south of Forks of Water
we had hopes of Osprey and Ducks. It looked like we would fail but as we were
pulling out I spotted not one but 2 Osprey circling overhead! In Monterey we
tallied our final bird (#100!), Chimney Swift.
It was a fabulous day and huge thanks to my awesome teammates Brenda and Penny
for their spotting and identification skills, and to all of our donors who
supported this annual fundraiser! Half the proceeds will go to the Hawk
Migration Association of North America and the other half come back to our own
Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch.
Good Birding,
Team Fly Like an Eagle (Yours truly Gabriel Mapel, Brenda Tekin, and Penny
Warren)
Other related posts:
- » [Va-bird] Highland County RAPTORTHON (100 species, 18 warblers) (Delayed report from Saturday) - Gabriel Mapel
