All,
After our southwestern foray, Todd, Ian, and I headed north and stopped
along Cattleman Road, in Augusta County to look for the previously
reported Loggerhead Shrikes. We did not find them there but we found
several of other nice species including a single CLIFF SWALLOW amongst
the trees and northern rough-wings, YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO, GRASSHOPPER
SPARROW, SAVANNAH SPARROW, and a NORTHERN HARRIER flying over.
On to Highland County for a restful night in the Highland Inn before
starting out at 5:30am the next morning for Locust Springs. There we
found VEERY, HERMIT THRUSH, WOOD THRUSH, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, BROWN
CREEPER, BLUE-HEADED VIREO, RED-EYED VIREO, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH,
MAGNOLIA WARBLER, BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER, BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER,
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER, SLATE-COLORED JUNCO, and
PURPLE FINCH. From there we headed south to Paddy's Knob where we found
a singing MOURNING WARBLER that we finally got looks at after a
frustrating 20 minutes or so (life bird for Ian). Farther down Rt. 55
another MOURNING WARBLER flew across the road in front of us and landed
in full view in a tree. There were numerous VEERYs, LEAST FLYCATCHERs,
BLUE-HEADED VIREOs, and CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLERs. Last but certainly not
least, we headed over to Margaret O'Bryan's where we found a singing
male GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER (thanks Margaret!) and another along Rt. 640
very near her house.
Back to Augusta County we drove north and found the LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE
along Badger Road reported last week. It was just east of the Sheep
Creek Poultry Farm. A quick jaunt over to Rt. 608 east of I-81 yield no
DICKCISSELs but we found two singing along Rt. 775 just west of Rt. 608.
Sue
--
Susan A. Heath
George Mason University
Environmental Science Department
Fairfax, VA
Secretary, Virginia Avian Records Committee
Keeper, Virginia Comp List at www.virginiabirding.org
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