September 1, 2014 [LINK / comment]
Late summer / early fall birding
I went up to Shenandoah Mountain on Saturday, curious as to whether the neotropical migrant birds have begun their southward sojourn. Indeed, some have, as I saw and photographed a Cape May Warbler, as well as other warbler and vireo species that may be local breeders, rather than migrants. (Cape May Warblers only breed in Canada and a few northerly states.) The photo montage below shows most of what I observed during my brief outing. Individually, none of the photos was really that good, so I just put them in a bunch. Also seen: Black-and-White Warbler and Red-eyed Vireo.
Clockwise from top left: Red-breasted Nuthatch, Dark-eyed Junco (imm.), Blackburnian Warbler, Orchard Oriole, Black-throated Green Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, and Cape May Warbler..
Shenandoah Mountain is a high-elevation habitat in which some "winter" birds (such as Juncos) breed. The place I visited is just south of the Confederate Breastworks. I have previously seen Scarlet Tanagers there.
Migrating shorebirds
For shorebirds, migration season starts a month or so earlier than for most songbirds and raptors. I was hoping to fill in the many gaps in terms of photographs and my life bird list. These are a few of the nicer recent sightings:
Western Sandpiper, at Leonard's Pond in Rockingham County, on August 12.
White Ibises (immature), at Day's Inn on Bell's Lane, on August 17.
Great Egret, at Smith's Pond in Swoope, on August 22.
In addition, there was a Glossy Ibis near that Great Egret in Smith's Pond, but my photos weren't good at all. I had a much better view of a Glossy Ibis in Rockingham County in August 2006.