This morning 11 Birders attended the Rockbridge Bird Club sponsored field trip at Rockfish Valley Trail. The Field Trip was led by long time Trail expert, Walt Childs, with advanced scouting provided by Marshall Faintich. The first half hour of the trip was stationary in the Trail parking area as the group was treated to an impromptu hawk watch as resting Broad-Wing Hawks rose from the nearby woods on their migration journey. Throughout the morning raptors kept appearing making for a great day. Shortly after leaving the parking area, the group came across a feeding flock of warblers which kept everyone busy as the birds darted in and out of the leaves. Eventually, the group had to call it a day although the bird sightings never let up. Thanks Walt and Marshall for hosting a great trip.(ed. note: Marshall actually had a little different experience as he tried to scout ahead for us. You can find his description of the day here.) 

Kerry Kilday


Rockfish Valley Trail, Nelson, US-VA
Sep 20, 2014 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.5 mile(s)
Comments:     Very Sunny and mild 70 degrees at start
40 species (+1 other taxa)

Great Blue Heron  2
Black Vulture  1
Turkey Vulture  11
Sharp-shinned Hawk  1
Cooper's Hawk  1
Bald Eagle  1
Red-shouldered Hawk  1
Broad-winged Hawk  27
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  3
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  4
Red-headed Woodpecker  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Northern Flicker  3
Pileated Woodpecker  3
Eastern Wood-Pewee  3
Acadian Flycatcher  1
Empidonax sp.  1
Eastern Phoebe  3
Warbling Vireo  1
Blue Jay  10
American Crow  9
Carolina Chickadee  2
House Wren  1
Carolina Wren  4
Eastern Bluebird  40
Gray Catbird  5
European Starling  11
Cedar Waxwing  7
Tennessee Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  4
American Redstart  2
Cape May Warbler  1
Magnolia Warbler  1
Black-throated Blue Warbler  1
Palm Warbler  2
Black-throated Green Warbler  2
Northern Cardinal  2
Indigo Bunting  1
House Finch  1
American Goldfinch  17

On Saturday, September 6 the Rockbridge Bird Club held its first monthly bird walk at the Boxerwood Nature Center and Woodland Gardens (www.boxerwood.org). The joint event will take place in the future on the first Saturday of each month. Today, a group of 10 birders saw a total of 31 species with the highlight being a Blue Winged Warbler and a calling nearby Eastern Screech Owl. Several feeding flocks provided additional warblers as migration begins. The Gardens are open to the public daily. The detailed bird list is below:

Boxerwood Gardens - MRR03, Rockbridge, US-VA
Sep 6, 2014 7:30 AM - 9:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
Comments:     Sunny Day '80s
31 species

Red-shouldered Hawk  3
Mourning Dove  10
Eastern Screech-Owl  1     heard
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  6
Downy Woodpecker  1
Pileated Woodpecker  2     heard
Eastern Wood-Pewee  1
Eastern Phoebe  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  2
Blue Jay  8
American Crow  14
Carolina Chickadee  12
Tufted Titmouse  6
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
House Wren  2
Carolina Wren  12
Eastern Bluebird  8
American Robin  2
Gray Catbird  4
Brown Thrasher  4
Northern Mockingbird  2
European Starling  1
Worm-eating Warbler  1
Blue-winged Warbler  1
American Redstart  2
Magnolia Warbler  1
Black-throated Green Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  8
Indigo Bunting  1
House Finch  2
American Goldfinch  8

Kieran Kilday