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Blue Ridge Parkway Birding



In response to Will Cook's post from last week, Jill Froning and I spent
Saturday birding the Blue Ridge Parkway from MP 200 to MP 217.  It was
cloudy and a bit drizzly to start, but as the day wore on the sun came
out and it became a beautiful day to be out and about birding.

Our first stop when we hit the Parkway was at a field at about MP 201 or
so.  There we saw Palm Warblers, a few Black-throated Green Warblers,
Black-throated Blue Warblers, a lone Chestnut-sided Warbler, as well as
Bay-breasted and Tennessee Warblers.  Jill also heard at least one
Magnolia Warbler.  In addition, we saw Eastern Meadowlarks in the field,
catching them flying around behind the Longhorn cattle after hearing
their song (which is one of my favorites).  We also heard an American
Woodcock peenting away in the field, although we were never able to
catch a glimpse of the bird.  Another beautiful bird was a flyover
Pileated Woodpecker.

We stopped at various places along the road but did not see too much - a
Blue-headed Vireo, Field Sparrow, some Cedar Waxwings etc.  We
eventually made it to Will's suggested stop at the field at MP 206.5.
Here we had the best views of thrushes I have ever had.  Jill saw a Wood
Thrush which I never managed to find, but we both saw plenty of
Swainson's and Gray-cheeked Thrushes (the GC's being a life bird for
me), as well as one or two Hermit Thrushes.  We didn't pick up any
Veerys, and I won't even discuss Bicknell's <g>.  Well - I will say that
we ran into a couple from Chapel Hill who were also following Will's
directions, although going the opposite way on the Parkway than we
were.  One of them saw a Veery and a bird that she thought was possibly
a Bicknell's.  Altogether, there had to be at least a couple of dozen
thrushes in the woods along the edge of the field.

Next we made our way to the stream at MP 217, just south of the VA/NC
border.  This was an amazing spot.  Shortly after getting out of the
car, which we had parked down near an exit for a local highway, I saw a
bird that I think was a Cape May Warbler, although my spying of it was
so brief that this was more an impression than an identification.  Next
I saw a first fall female Cerulean Warbler as she briefly stopped on a
branch well in the woods, but she flew away before Jill could catch
her.  After that, Jill saw a Swainson's Warbler and we both saw a
Blackburnian.  The best was yet to come however.

Walking further down the roadside along the stream (back in the
direction of the state line) we came across an area ripe with berries,
including dogwoods, grapes, poison ivy and some kind of holly.  Sitting
co-operatively in a bush in the area, fluffing itself and preening, was
a warbler that we first took to be a Nashville Warbler, but it wasn't
quite right.  Eventually we determined that it was a CONNECTICUT
Warbler, whose appearance made an already great day truly memorable.

The complete trip list follows.

Amalie Tuffin
Durham, NC

Turkey Vulture
American Woodcock
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay - many, clearly some were migrants
American Crow
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling - including a large flock doing amazing aerial
displays
Cedar Waxwing
Tennessee Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler - at least 5 or 6 different birds
Black-throated Green Warbler - ditto
Blackburnian Warbler
Palm Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler - one early in the day, as well as a virtual wave
of them
                                    flying through the trees late in the
afternoon
Cerulean Warbler
Swainson's Warbler
Connecticut Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Field Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
American Goldfinch