Venture to Mount Rogers, VA and New River, NC
27-29 May, 2005
The Mt Rogers National Recreation Area covers a huge area and we only managed to see just a little of it over a 3 day weekend. Grindstone Campground was our first stop and this is always a good spot for bird finding. Despite the fact that it was Memorial Day weekend, the campground did have a few birds around. We had excellent views of Veery, Least Flycatcher, Scarlet Tanager and Canada Warbler. The latter came so close we could barely focus our binoculars.
Our base for the weekend was the very pleasant and picturesque town of Abingdon, Virginia, so we could be guaranteed a very nice meal at the end of a busy day of birding. But the next day was our big one with a 9-mile round trip hike planned to the top of Mt Rogers. At 5729', Mt Rogers is the highest peak in Virginia, although there is no view due to the 360 degree coverage of spruce trees. However, the view was incredible from many of the surrounding balds.
The hike was moderate and a little rocky in places, but the 3 of us managed to get to the top to enjoy our picnic lunch. The sun even came out for a while. As our hike had started in foggy and somewhat rainy conditions it was magnificent to watch the view emerge from the fog. Birding was not bad as we climbed up, and we had very nice views of Hermit Thrush, Magnolia Warbler and the nest (containing 4 blue eggs) of a Dark-eyed Junco. Thankfully the weather stayed calm for the remainder of the hike. On the Sunday morning we drove slowly back to NC via Grayson Highlands State Park, a beautiful mountainous part of Virginia. A fairly short hike up to Wilburn Ridge produced a couple of singing Vesper Sparrows, our first visible Red-breasted Nuthatch of the trip and a close encounter with some of the feral ponies. Then it was off home with a stop at RiverCamp USA in Ashe County for the reliable Baltimore and Orchard Orioles and Warbling Vireos. It was quite a birding experience looking for these birds in a very full Memorial Day campground - but we did it!
| Birds | |
| Common Loon | Gray Catbird |
| Great Blue Heron | Northern Mockingbird |
| Canada Goose | Brown Thrasher |
| Mallard | Cedar Waxwing |
| Black Vulture | European Starling |
| Turkey Vulture | Blue-headed Vireo |
| Red-tailed Hawk | Yellow-throated Vireo |
| American Kestrel | Red-eyed Vireo |
| Ruffed Grouse (H) | Warbling Vireo |
| Wild Turkey | Northern Parula |
| Northern Bobwhite (H) | Yellow Warbler |
| Killdeer | Chestnut-sided Warbler |
| Rock Pigeon | Magnolia Warbler |
| Mourning Dove | Black-throated Blue Warbler |
| Barred Owl (H) | Yellow-rumped Warbler |
| Chimney Swift | Black-throated Green Warbler |
| Belted Kingfisher | Yellow-throated Warbler |
| Downy Woodpecker | Black-and-white Warbler |
| Hairy Woodpecker | American Redstart |
| Eastern Wood-Pewee | Ovenbird (H) |
| Eastern Phoebe | Louisiana Waterthrush |
| Least Flycatcher | Common Yellowthroat (H) |
| Acadian Flycatcher (H) | Hooded Warbler (H) |
| Eastern Kingbird | Canada Warbler |
| Tree Swallow | Scarlet Tanager |
| Northern Rough-winged Swallow | Northern Cardinal |
| Cliff Swallow | Rose-breasted Grosbeak |
| Barn Swallow | Indigo Bunting |
| Blue Jay | Eastern Towhee |
| American Crow | Chipping Sparrow |
| Common Raven | Field Sparrow |
| Carolina Chickadee | Vesper Sparrow |
| Black-capped Chickadee | Song Sparrow |
| Tufted Titmouse | Dark-eyed Junco |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | Red-winged Blackbird |
| Brown Creeper (H) | Eastern Meadowlark |
| Carolina Wren (H) | Common Grackle |
| House Wren | Brown-headed Cowbird |
| Winter Wren (H) | Orchard Oriole |
| Golden-crowned Kinglet | Baltimore Oriole |
| Eastern Bluebird | Red Crossbill |
| Veery | Pine Siskin |
| Hermit Thrush | American Goldfinch |
| Wood Thrush (H) | House Sparrow |
| American Robin | |
| Butterflies | |
| Eastern Tiger Swallowtail | Cabbage White |
| Small Copper | |
| Mammals & other critters | |
| White-tailed Deer | Gray Squirrel |
| Eastern Chipmunk | Groundhog |
| Red Squirrel | Mountain Dusky Salamander |
