I was in Charlottesville today and by pure accident found Ragged Mountain
Natural Area-60+acres of water on 900+ acres with over 4 mi. trails. Pulling
in, there were 2 E. Phoebes working the stream by the entrance
bridgeway-obviously setting up home. Within 100 yds of the parking I could
tell something was up:
2 Brown Creeper
4 Blue-Grey Gnatcatchers
2 N Flickers
8 Pine Warblers
22 Yellow Rumped Warblers
1 R.S.Towhee
1 Harry Woodpecker
1 Pileated Woodpecker
1 Bluebird
3 Cedar Waxwings
20 Turkey Vultures
4 Black Vultures--all 24 vultures soaring in one large cell overhead.
14 White-throated Sparrows
2 Field Sparrows
1 Song Sparrow
6 C Chickadees
4 Titmice
There are several cedars along the first 100yds of the trail and they were
just packed with birds-appearing to be holding out for better weather. There
were six warblers working the edge of the stream flowing through the place. I
wanted them to be waterthrushes, but they were yellow rump warblers-every
one. I've seen them work on the ground before but never moving along a stream
working it just like a waterthrush would. But it was windy and cool(flurries
once) so there wasn't much airborn insect food available. Lots of birds but
no new species.
Dave White
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