A great morning of birding on the Blue Ridge Parkway and in Nelson County.
Between 7 and 10 I had between 20 and 30 species (lost count), mainly at a
couple of the overlooks near the northern end of the BRP. Highlights:
BLACKBURNIAN, CANADA, BLACK-THROATED GREEN, BLACK-THROATED BLUE, AM. REDSTART,
OVENBIRD (on trail to Three Ridges), and BLUE-HEADED VIREO. Several other
warbler species also. A COOPERS HAWK cruiser south along the BRP right above me.
I suspect we'll hear of more BROADWING HAWKS from the Rockfish Gap Hawkwatchers
today: as I past the Devil's Backbone Brewery headed home I saw a mob of
songbirds mobing something near Glen Mary. I pulled over and watched two
Broadwings circling over the winery. Now at home (near Nellysford) I can see 8
BROADWINGS above the house as I write this on the porch. There was another 8-10
of them kettling and then streaming south about 15 minutes ago.
If you are in the western Nelson area today you might consider getting to an
open area and looking overhead. If nothing else you'll see plenty of Monarch
butterflies up there.
GDalton
Nellysford
