Adam D'Onofrio, Rexanne Bruno, and I had a most enjoyable day birding Highland
Co. on Sunday June 12. We made the obligatory stop to look and listen for Red
Crossbills at the hairpin curve along Rt 250 and were not really surprised to
find none. Next stop was along Rt 631 just outside of Monterey where we heard
several Golden-winged Warblers but saw none. At Hightown, we made a quick
detour on Rt 640 and picked up a dozen or so Bobolink and a kestrel. From here
it was on to Paddy's Knob where we ran into David and Linda Hughes. As David
was telling us of the goodies they had, a male Mourning Warbler (our target
bird) appeared on an exposed perch on the VIRGINIA side of the road. Over the
next 30 minutes, we were treated to no few than 3 of these magnificent little
songsters as they perched and announced their territories. Lots of Least
Flycatchers were also on territory here.
Next stop was along Rt 642 in the Blue Grass Valley where we had nice looks at
a Vesper Sparrow and fleeting glimpses of Red-headed Woodpecker. We continued
on along 642 to Alleghaney Rd then bird this road to Locust Springs where we
had the usual suspects including Red-breasted Nuthatch,Brown Creeper,
Golden-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Blackburnian and Magnolia
Warbler, Hermit Thrush, Least Flycatcher.
We made our way back to Monterey for some much needed gas and then headed for
the O'Brian farm along Rt 640 where we got killer looks a Golden-winged Warbler
singing less than 10 feet from us!
Finally, we decided to try for Red Crossbills at Reddish Knob in Augusta Co and
were disappointed, though not totally surprised ,to find none!
All in all a fantastic day of high altitude birding and the rain held off until
we were in the home stretch.
Good Birding,
Mike Boatwright
--
Amherst, VA
You are subscribed to VA-BIRD. To post to this mailing list, simply send email
to va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx. To unsubscribe, send email to
va-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
