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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Mountain birds (1 Viewer)

Hamhed

Well-known member
Last weekend, I took a group of Birding pals up the Blue Ridge Parkway to Craggy Gardens. We found a good many warbler species on the way but the Craggy area at about 4500 ft was cold, lightly raining, windy and very foggy. Our search for any early Canada Warblers was unrewarded. Only a few Juncos and a single Black-throated Blue Warbler.
Lower down, a few but not all Ceruleans Warblers had arrived and were staking out their territories. One was recorded singing a Hooded Warbler song. After that experience, I'll doubt just about any bird I hear but don't actually see! Scarlet tanagers, Wood Thrushes, Blackburnian and Worm-eating Warblers were out in good numbers but Chestnut-sided had not arrived as yet. Late April is just a bit early to find the whole gamut of mountain species.
This coming Monday, I'll take another Birding Pal contact out and we'll see how breeding season has progressed. Certainly the weather forecast is much better.

For the first time in over a year, my own yard list increased to 133 yesterday when I found a male Yellow Warbler in the willows down by our small stream. That's warbler species number 31 in 9 1/2 years of keeping records.

A number of breeding bird surveys start up next week and we're often short-handed for anyone who is considering a mountain visit.

Steve
 

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Just now seen this. Great report. Wish we had more activity in here. :-C

I was at Mitchell a couple weeks ago and passed Craggy up (had my nephew and had to eat at Zaxbys in Oteen and get back down the mountain to meet his dad so time was an issue.)
 
A beautiful, warm Monday in western NC has come and gone. Birding on the Blue Ridge Parkway was very good to the pair of Birding Pals from Florida who joined me today on a 24 mile run from Bull Gap to Mount Mitchell State Park. We saw 44 species, including 12 of warbler and 3 vireo. The Black-throated Blue was heard not seen. We missed the only other regular warbler, the Northern Parula but found a Cape May Warbler to fill that gap. The eBird list is here:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23232238
No leaves on the trees yet at the higher elevations. That didn't seem to stop the Canada Warblers from moving onto territory in the Craggy Gardens area.
Afternoon clouds kept the birding going well into the afternoon. Many were still active and singing when we quit in mid afternoon.
A good day to take pictures, my attention was divided between listening, looking, pointing and shooting.
This weekend, there is the first of three breeding bird surveys and I'll be back in the exact same area once again. Winter is fast becoming a fading memory.

David - you have another month to make a return trip while the birds are singing. The trees are leafing out quickly and those birds will only get tougher to see, so make it soon!

Steve
 

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I need to! As a fairly new birder (and even newer "lister") all of those except the creeper would be life birds for me! The Tanager is on my 2015 target list...can't believe I've never seen/IDed one in the field.
 
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