August 30, 2026 [LINK / comment]
What follows is another extremely late summary of birds that I saw in October of last year. Little by little, I'm getting caught up, and should erase my long backlog within the next month or two.
October 3: It was a great day along Bell's Lane today! I checked out the northeastern stretch for the first time in a while, and was soon rewarded with nice views of Cedar Waxwings, Northern Rough-winged Swallows, a closeup of a (female) Black-throated Green Warbler, and my very first Northern Harrier of the season! Along the usual lowland portion, I saw several American Redstarts, a Northern Parula, a Black & White Warbler, and my first Ruby-crowned Kinglet of the season! It's always interesting to see a mix of summer birds and winter birds during the spring and fall migration seasons.
Bell's Lane, October 3.
October 4: In contrast to last Saturday, when the ABC field trip to Augusta Springs was originally scheduled, the weather this morning was almost perfect, and we saw a nice variety of migratory birds. Soon after arriving we saw a Cape May Warbler, along with all the Cedar Waxwings, but unfortunately I couldn't get a good photo of it. We saw Black-throated Blue Warblers at two locations, the first (a male) staying up in the trees while the second (a female) was much more cooperative. Other highlights included Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (first of the season for me), a Common Yellowthroat, a couple probable Chestnut-sided Warblers, some Blue-headed Vireos, a Pileated Woodpecker, and a Belted Kingfisher. There were many smaller birds in the bushes across the meadow north of the boardwalk, but they were hard to see. I later determined from the photos that some were Indigo Buntings (note the blue tinges in the brown bird) and others were White-throated Sparrows (FOS). At one point we heard a an emphatic high-pitch song that was vaguely familiar, very close by, and Stephen Pietrowski's Merlin app identified it as a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. We didn't see it, however. On the way back to Staunton we stopped at a couple places in Swoope, but didn't see anything special other than an American Kestrel. Overall, however, it was great day.
October 8: I paid a visit to Bell's Lane on the way home from work late this afternoon, and soon saw a Northern Harrier (F/J) once again. In the wooded lowland area I spotted a Northern Parula, an American Redstart, and an Ovenbird, but getting photos proved almost impossible. Near the kiosk toward the southwest end* were a Northern Flicker, Downy Woodpecker, and Red-bellied Woodpecker, as well as some Eastern Bluebirds, Cedar Waxwings, and two Yellow-rumped Warblers -- my first ones of the season!
Bells Lane, October 8.
October 10: Jacqueline and I went for a walk at Montgomery Hall Park in the afternoon, after buying veggies at nearby Jones Garden. The big highlight was seeing a Common Yellowthroat up close, but otherwise just some Ruby-crowned Kinglets and a few other common birds.
October 11: On an ABC field trip to Madison Run that I led, we started hearing lots of birds soon after we began our hike, but for the most part they remained elusive all morning. In particular, we kept hearing Ruby-crowned Kinglets, but never had a clear view of any of them. At one point the Merlin app on two of our phones indicated that a Brown Creeper was present, but the calls were probably too high-pitched for us to hear. We heard a variety of woodpeckers, including Pileated, but the only clear sighting was that of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. There was a lot of bird activity at the Austin Mountain trail crossing, and we finally had decent looks at a Blue-headed Vireo, one of the late fall migrants, along with Carolina Chickadees, etc. As a reflection of the nice weather conditions, the trail was full of human hikers and their canine companions.
October 17: I finally had some time for birding this afternoon, so of course I went to Bell's Lane. I didn't see any of the hoped-for warblers, but I did have an excellent closeup view of a White-eyed Vireo, on its way south a bit behind schedule. That was a surprise! I also saw my first White-crowned Sparrow of the season, as well as a White-throated Sparrow; I had only seen the latter species once this season, during our Augusta Springs field trip two weeks ago. There were also a few Ruby-crowned Kinglets and the usual woodpeckers, etc., but no Gray Catbirds or Eastern Phoebes. They must have left town and headed south already.
October 18: I drove out to Swoope and the Boy Scout camp late this morning, mostly in hopes of seeing a Winter Wren or Brown Creeper. No luck with either of those, but I did see a plethora of woodpeckers: Red-headed, Downy, Red-bellied, as well as a Northern Flicker and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker! I also heard a Pileated Woodpecker but never saw it. A Hairy Woodpecker would have made it a perfect day, woodpecker-wise! Finally, there was a Yellow-rumped Warbler along North Mountain Road a couple miles to the north.
Swoope, October 18.
October 20: I went for a walk around Montgomery Hall Park, and was disappointed by the lack of birds until I reached the top. All of a sudden, there were Kinglets all around me -- both Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned! (It was the first I had seen of the latter species this fall.) Unfortunately, they were just too fast for me to get any good photos!
October 22: I finally lucked out in getting a photo with perfect lighting conditions when I saw two Northern Harriers along Bell's Lane late this afternoon. Also a Red-tailed Hawk perched in the distance.
October 24: The bright sun in the late afternoon accentuated the colors of the birds along Bell's Lane. There must have been at least a half dozen Yellow-rumped Warblers near the kiosk, along with 15 or more Eastern Bluebirds. Toward the northeast end there was a flock of American Robins numbering at least 40. I had a brief glimpse of a Northern Harrier as well.
October 25: One thing led to another in the afternoon, and I eventually ended up at Coyner Springs Park southwest of Waynesboro. For the first time I walked there from the semi-new Shenandoah Village Drive which I mentioned in a post last month. It was slow going for a while, bird-wise, but as I reached the top of the hill (by the water treatment building), it got very busy! Many Yellow-rumped Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, as well as Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and even a Blue-headed Vireo! Just in case, I checked out the bushes where many of us saw the ultra-rare Kirtland's Warbler last year; no such luck. On my way back were several dozen American Robins, Red-winged Blackbirds, and Common Grackles in the woods below, as well as some Cedar Waxwings. In spite of the overcast skies, it was quite a day!
Waynesboro, October 25
Additional photos and montages, including individual photos of some of the birds in the above montages, can be seen on the Wild Birds chronological (2025) page.