February 22, 2026 [LINK / comment]
Birding in Virginia (and New York), August 2024
NOTE: This is another "catch-up" birding blog post based on Facebook posts from August of last year. The last such post was on July 4 last year. (!)
August 1: Every year we put our hummingbird feeders out in late July, and sure enough we get "customers" almost right away. I saw my first one here after I got home from hiking the Dowells Draft trail near Braley Pond. There I saw Red-eyed Vireos, an Eastern Wood Pewee, and a White-breasted Nuthatch, but not much else. Too hot! I did encounter a nice rain shower on the way home, at least.
August 2: Along Bell's Lane this afternoon I saw an Eastern Kingbird, multiple Eastern Phoebes, a pair of American Goldfinches in courtship mode, a young Eastern Bluebird, but most importantly, two noisy Red-tailed Hawks. One had been sitting in a nest that I somehow had missed in all my other recent visits. I think I saw a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher zipping about the tree tops, but I couldn't be 100% sure. Back home, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird visited a few times.
August 3: Jacqueline and I went on another BIG hike, this time on the Big Run Loop trail in the Shenandoah National Park, just south of Loft Mountain. We logged six (6) miles total, climbing roughly 840 feet altogether. Thoroughly exhausted! We got lucky with some excellent bird views along the way, including an Acadian Flycatcher, Broad-winged Hawk, Louisiana Waterthrush, Black-and-white Warblers, Eastern Wood Pewees (many!), and even a Hooded Warbler! We also saw a Hairy Woodpecker, many Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice, Eastern Towhees, an American Redstart, and a menacing reptile that will be shown in a comment below!
(Big Run Loop trail, Shenandoah National Park, August 3)
August 7: In the afternoon (hot again) I went for a walk along Bell's Lane, and finally saw the Blue-gray Gnatcatchers that I had there heard before. Also the usual Eastern Towhees, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, etc., but the big surprise was a Willow Flycatcher perched on a low branch on the other side of a row of hedges! I had briefly seen one earlier in the summer (at the end of the field trip led by Penny Warren), but not since then. For a few years, they were a regular presence.
August 9: I went up to the ponds at Mill Place in Verona today, hoping that Tropical Storm Debby might have blown some rare birds into our area. Like a Spoonbill or a Flamingo, perhaps? Well, no such luck, but I did have some nice bird views, including the first Cedar Waxwing I had seen in several weeks. Soon the deep blue male Indigo Buntings will put an end to their breeding season and migrate to the south, not to be seen until next May. I saw American Goldinches both at Mill Place
(Mill Place trail & Staunton, August 9)
August 10: I hiked for about a mile up the Georgia Camp trail (between West Augusta and Ramseys Draft), my first-ever serious endeavor at that location, but I hardly saw any birds. It was pleasant and shaded, at least. On the way back I stopped at Braleys Pond and soon came upon Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, American Goldfinches, Cedar Waxwings, and Red-eyed Vireos. Groups of all four species were foraging very actively.
August 13: I walked around the Mill Place trail this morning, but didn't see much other than American Goldfinches and an Indigo Bunting. Bell's Lane was more active (as usual), with a family of Eastern Bluebirds, a pair of Red-tailed Hawks in the distance, an Eastern Phoebe or two, and a Great Crested Flycatcher, who cooperated with a nice pose for me.
August 18: While in New York City over the weekend, Jacqueline and I had a few bird sightings of note. A Red-tailed Hawk was amusingly perched on top of the namesake statue in Columbus Circle, no doubt preying on the many pigeons in the area. Behind the ferry boat we took to see the Statue of Liberty (and on the island itself) were several Ring-billed Gulls. While atop the pedestal I spotted an Osprey and a Double-crested Cormorant, but couldn't get a photo of the latter.
August 22: It was another good day for flycatchers along Bell's Lane this (very cool) morning: Eastern Phoebes, Eastern Kingbirds, a Great Crested Flycatcher, and a probable Willow Flycatcher (no photo). Also Downy Woodpeckers, a family of four Red-bellied Woodpeckers, the usual Gray Catbirds and Eastern Bluebirds, a distant Red-tailed Hawk, and a surprise appearance by a House Wren!
August 23 ???: Jacqueline and I went for another big hike today, this time along the Falls Hollow trail, which begins along Rt. 42 a few miles before Augusta Springs. It was my first significant visit there this year, and conditions were mild but humid. (Recent rains have benefited the greenery.) We heard and saw multiple Blue-headed Vireos and Acadian Flycatchers, as well as Eastern Towhees, but only one notable cluster of warblers, flitting about the tree tops. ID is hard, given the poor light conditions, but I think that's a Worm-eating Warbler and a Black-throated Green Warbler at the top right. The other two are a Red-eyed Vireo and a White-breasted Nuthatch. On the way back down we heard and saw a couple Louisiana Waterthrushes.
August 27: On Bell's Lane on Friday afternoon I once again saw Black-and-white Warblers as well as American Redstarts, but could only get photos of the former. This one is evidently a young male practicing to sing, as his throat was almost all white. Also present was a Great Crested Flycatcher, as well as the usual Indigo Buntings, Eastern Towhees, etc.
August 30: A visit to Montgomery Hall Park this afternoon left no doubt that fall migration is underway! Some of these birds may have been residents during the summer (Ruby-throated Hummingbird, White-eyed Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and American Redstart), but at least two are definitely transients: Magnolia Warbler (L) and Black-throated Green Warbler (R); I also had brief views of a Chestnut-sided Warbler and a Blackburnian Warbler, but could not get photos. I also saw a Hairy Woodpecker.
(Montgomery Hall Park, Aug. 30)
August 31: Jacqueline desperately needed a break today, so we went for a medium hike (3 miles) to Blackrock Summit in the Shenandoah National Park. Virtually all the birds we saw were in a small area, where we experienced a mini-fallout of warblers and vireos. The Pileated Woodpecker was out back after we got home. Others, clockwise from top center: Worm-eating Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Common Raven, Yellow-throated Vireo (or Pine Warbler?), Blue-headed Vireo, and in center.
Additional photos and montages, including individual photos of some of the birds in the above montages, will soon become available on the Wild Birds chronological (2024) page. (I am in the midst of a major reorganization of my bird photos, so that they will be sorted year by year.)