Birded the Appalachian Trail (AT), the Old Trail and a .4 mile stretch of the
North Ridge Trail at Sky Meadows yesterday, accessing the AT from the bottom of
Liberty Hill Rd. at Rte. 50. The sky was cloudy in the morning and it was cool
and windy all day as well. The birds were quiet. My late start didn't help.
New firsts of spring for me were Purple Martin (calling from high over the Old
Trail/AT intersection, never had one on the ridge before), Black-throated Blue
Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, Hooded Warbler and Am. Redstart. I am disappointed
that I missed Kentucky among other warblers but they must have been around
somewhere.
Large-flowered Trillium, Showy Orchis and other wildflowers were a treat. They
are never as abundant as at nearby Thompson, however.
Correction: I am told that the latest date for Louisiana Waterthrush at
Huntley Meadows is recorded as May 4 and the second latest date is April
30. LA's don't breed at Huntley. Therefore, the waterthrush that I
observed at Elklick Woodlands last week may have been a Louisiana. The call of
each species
is similar and some field marks and behaviors were not seen well enough
for me to distinguish between Northern and Louisiana. So I am calling
it "waterthrush sp."
Scott Baron
Vienna, Va.
razorbill1 at msn dot com
