[bristol-birds] 85 species - New River Trail State Park
- From: "Ed Talbott" <etalbott@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2002 10:25:15 -0400
Bristol Birders,
We needed a cure for the spring fever that has set in the past
couple of weeks so we decided to spend the entire weekend birding, biking
and hiking along the New River Trail State Park in Virginia. The trail runs
from Pulaski to Galax with a spur branch to Fries ? a total distance of some
57 miles of well-maintained hike/bike trail that runs along the old rail bed
as it follows the New River. There are several trestles, tunnels, and
bridges along the way.
We started at 7:00 a.m. with a 3-mile hike from the northern
terminus at Pulaski. As we would be covering the same ground twice ? and as
many as four times counting the bike trip ? we decided to count only the
different species and not the numbers. After a couple biscuits from Hardee?
s - we then set out from Draper, VA on a bike ride to Foster Falls ? a 35.6
mile round trip bike ride. The biking turned out to be a little frustrating
as the number of warblers and other spring birds along the trail was very
high ? we were stopping every couple hundred yards to ID new birds and it
took us almost nine hours to complete the ride. The weather for the ride
was perfect ? mostly cloudy, cool, slight breeze and no rain. We wound up
with 66 species on the first day.
Sunday morning we started at Draper again for a 6-mile round
trip hike to the Delton Trestle. We picked up our first life bird in the
parking lot ? an Orchard Oriole. We added several more species along the
way including a couple Double-crested Cormorants in the river. We decided
to take the scenic route back to Buchanan County and took Rt. 623 from Bland
County over Brushy and Garden Mountains into Burke?s Garden. This is a
small winding gravel road but the area is a haven for warblers. We added
the Black-throated Green and Black-throated Blue Warblers to our species
list. The Black-throated Blue was a lifer for Michelle and it was certainly
the best looks that I have ever had. We saw a total of five ? 3 males and 2
females. At Burke?s Garden we were surprised to find six Ruddy Ducks on the
pond there. Overall it was a great weekend of birding with a total of 85
species noted ? they are listed below.
Ed and Michelle Talbott
Buchanan County Bird Club
http://www.bcplnet.org/birdclub/birdclub.htm
On New River Trail unless noted otherwise:
Black-and-white Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Palm Warbler
American Redstart
Northern Parula
Blackburnian Warbler
Louisiana Waterthrush
Worm-eating Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler (Rt. 623 ? Bland Co., VA)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (Rt. 623 ? Bland Co., VA)
Red-eyed Vireo
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Chimney Swift
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow (Claytor Lake Bridge ? Rt. 672)
Purple Martin
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Baltimore Oriole
Orchard Oriole (saw 2 ? life bird)
White-throated Sparrow
Field Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow (Burke?s Garden, VA)
House Sparrow
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper?s Hawk (Garden Mountain, Rt. 623, Bland Co.)
Turkey Vulture
Black Vulture
Common Raven
American Crow
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Ruddy Duck (six on pond at Burke?s Garden)
Spotted Sandpiper
Mallard
Wood Duck
Double-crested Cormorant
Belted Kingfisher
Canada Goose
Ring-billed Gull
Northern Cardinal
American Goldfinch
Eastern Towhee
European Starling
Brown-headed Cowbird
Blue Jay
Carolina Wren
House Wren (life bird)
House Finch
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Kingbird
Common Grackle
Tufted Titmouse
Killdeer
Carolina Chickadee
Red-winged Blackbird
White-breasted Nuthatch
Dark-eyed Junco
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Meadowlark
Wild Turkey
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
Gray Catbird
American Robin
Eastern Bluebird
Hermit Thrush (on AT at Garden Mountain ? Burke?s Garden, VA)
Wood Thrush
*************************************************
BRISTOL BIRDS NET LIST
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between birders and bird clubs of Southwest Virginia
and Northeast Tennessee. It serves the Russell County
Bird Club, Herndon Chapter TOS, Greeneville TOS
Chapter, Blue Ridge Birders Club, Butternut Nature
Club, Buchanan County Bird Club, Bristol Bird Club,
Clinch Valley Bird Club and Cumberland Nature Club.
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