Four Fall Migrants in Southwest Virginia, September 18-19, 2022

Soon after I moved to western North Carolina I put together a list of potential targets I needed for my Virginia state list that might be feasible in the southwestern corner of the state.  Although that is the closest portion of VA to my home, it is still at least a 2 hour drive just to reach the NC/VA stateline, and of course longer to get to any VA birding hotspots in the area.- As a result, I hadn’t yet made any efforts to bird in the area. 

But then as Fall 2022 approached I opened up my target list to see what migrants might be feasible as new VA statebirds.  There were actually a few pretty common migrants I needed, like Cape May, Tennessee, and Magnolia Warblers, and quite a number of rarer ones as well.  So I started to research potential VA birding locations as close to home as possible.  And given the distance, I figured it would be best to make it a 2-day, 1-night, trip.

While doing research for the trip I noticed that many of the eBird reports from the area came from local birder Allen Boynton.  So after I had pinned down what appeared to be the key hotspots I should bird I reached out to Allen to ask for some advice for birding those sites.  In his response Allen offered to bird with me if schedules meshed.  I never turn down an opportunity to explore a new area with a local expert, so I quickly accepted his offer.  And soon afterwards we had pinned down the dates for the trip – September 18 and 19.

We set the dates more than a week before the trip, long before there were any predictions for the size of the migration on those days.  So I just crossed my fingers that those dates would be good for migrants.  Unfortunately, it turned out that we picked some of the worst dates for migration in the entire month.  Although there were exceptionally high numbers of migrants earlier that week, the nights before my 2 planned birding days were among the worst that week.  Here is the reported number of birds crossing Grayson County the week of my trip, per BirdCast (dashboard.birdcast.info):

Night of –           Sept. 13 – 1,653,000

                             Sept. 14 – 1,548,000

                             Sept. 15 –   781,000

                             Sept. 16 –   334,000

                             Sept. 17 –    91,000 (night before Day 1)

                            Sept. 18 –   390,000 (night before Day 2)

                             Sept. 19 -  951,000

And ironically, migration picked up the night I left.  Go figure…  Despite the slow migration I still hoped for maybe 4 new statebirds on this trip.

My research also showed that a number of my targets were local but reliable breeders in the area as well.  That would of course need to wait till next summer, but a secondary objective of my September trip would be to get acquainted with some of these locations for a future summer trip.

Day 1 - September 18

I was out the door at about 5:45 on the 18th, and met up with Allen at 8:30.  First we headed to Homestead Road in Grayson County – one of Allen’s favorite spots.  We started at the eastern end of the road, which was quite birdy, with several warblers including Ovenbirds, Hooded, and Black-throated Blue.  There were also a number of Swainson’s Thrushes, and I was lucky enough to pick out one Gray-cheeked mixed in.  A bit later as we scanned a small feeding group in a treetop Allen spotted a Tennessee Warbler, which I quickly got on (new statebird #1).  My statebird map for Tennessee Warbler is inserted below.  The blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species; the cross-hatched states are those in its regular range where I’ve yet to see it.  Now that I can color in VA I have just two states along the western edge of its range where I still need Tennessee.

We continued to bird the site picking up more Thrushes and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and several Hummingbirds.  Then Allen spotted a Philadelphia Vireo high up in a tree.  Luckily the tree was pretty bare so I was able to get on the Vireo before it took off (statebird #2).  Thanks Allen!  Although the Philly Vireo range is quite similar to that of the Tennessee Warbler, my statebird maps are very different – I still need this less common species in many states in its regular range.  Though I have seen it in NM as a rarity (brown-shaded state).

We made several more stops on Homestead Road, including visiting quite a number of very nice habitats, but found no more migrants.  Definitely a place to come back to on a future trip – either for nesters or on a better migration day.

Next we were onto the Elk Garden Trailhead area.  This site features a grassy bald that has nesting Vesper Sparrows, which are occasionally reported into fall.  Just after we reached the parking lot we noticed a small group of juvenile sparrows foraging in the gravel.  Although I had Vesper on the mind, they were just juvenile Juncos.  We walked up the hill through the grasses, eventually connecting with the Appalachian Trail, looking for Vespers but just found Fields and Songs.  And we had a few migrants in the low trees at the edges of the bald, including Palm, Black-throated Blue, and Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a couple early Ruby-crowned Kinglets, but no key targets.  It was nice to see the site though and be able to know where to look for Vesper Sparrows on a future summer trip.

Then it was on to Whitetop Mountain which is a great spot for a number of my breeding targets like Least Flycatcher, Magnolia and Blackburnian Warblers, Vesper Sparrow, and Saw-whet Owl.  Though on this trip our principal targets were additional migrants.  Our first stop was a pullout just 0.7 miles up the mountain on Mud Creek Lane which Allen recommended as the best spot for Saw-whets.  But it was quite slow – in fact I don’t think we had a single bird.  Then we drove slowly up the rocky road through the grassy habitat hoping for Vespers to no avail.  A walk through the conifers near the top of the mountain was slow but yielded both Kinglets and a Sapsucker.  Another spot to file away for a summer visit.  Here’s a shot of the grasslands and conifers near the peak of Whitetop Mountain. 

And the beautiful scenery in the distance.

We visited three other spots later that afternoon hoping to run into foraging groups of migrants, but just found 3 Redstarts.  We ended the day with just 9 warbler species, and we had to work hard for almost every one of them.

Although I was planning to end the day with some nocturnal birding to try for Saw-whet Owls, I was pretty tired and decided to just try for them during the breeding season when they would likely be more vocal.

Day 2 – September 19

I woke up early on the 19th and went right to my phone to see the BirdCast report for the night before – migration numbers were better but still not the best.  The plan for this day was to meet Allen at Grayson Highlands State Park at sunrise to once again try for some migrants.  And as I planned my route I realized that on my way to the park I would go right by Whitetop Mountain where Saw-whets were possible.  It was early enough that I would have perhaps 30 minutes to try for them and still get to the park by sunrise.  It was a long-shot, but why not.

I reached Allen’s recommended Saw-whet spot on Mud Creek Lane at 6 and got out of the car.  Clear skies, calm winds, and no traffic suggested conditions would be perfect for owling.  I played some tape and listened, but heard no replies.  About 10 minutes into my stop I spotted a large bird fly into a tree nearby.  With my binoculars I could see a silhouette of a large owl, most likely a Barred, which continued to perch overhead for my entire stop.  My only other birds at this stop were 3 calling Swainson’s Thrushes – at least a few migrants were moving. 

Next it was onto Grayson Highlands State Park, where I met Allen at 7 AM.  Our first destination was the Visitor Center, but the gate to the Visitor Center roadway was closed.  Undeterred, we walked the last mile up the road to reach the empty gravel parking lots.  Since we were the first ones there that morning, we hoped to find Ruffed Grouse gritting in the lots, but not this time. 

Now we waited for the rising sun to illuminate the foliage to warm up the migrants, and their insect food, on that chilly morning.  We were at the hill just below the Visitor Center when the vegetation came into the sun.  And right on cue we started to see some activity.  It turned out to be a nice wave of warblers especially featuring Tennessee’s and Black-throated Green’s.  Soon after that wave moved down the road another wave appeared in its place.  Again, more of the same, along with a couple Redstarts and Yellow-rumps.  At one point Allen spotted a Cape May though I didn’t get on it until it was flying down the road – too late for a positive ID.  Luckily a third wave appeared a bit later, and this time I found another Cape May mixed in (statebird #3).  And just a minute later I spotted a Magnolia Warbler in that same wave (statebird #4).  My statebird map for Magnolia has many more shaded states than the one for Cape May – a comment on the fact that Maggie is generally quite a bit more common than Cape May.

And a bit later a fourth wave came by as well, like the others passing along this sunlit edge.  In less than an hour we ended up with 10 warbler species, and at least 200 individuals, predominantly Tennessee’s and Black-throated Green’s.  Unfortunately, at least half passed by without stopping long enough for IDs.  Here’s a picture of the edge where we had most of our warblers.

By 9 AM the warbler activity had ended, so we headed back down to the cars.  Along the way we were serenaded by both Kinglets, Brown Creepers, and Red-breasted Nuthatches as we passed through some great mixed spruce/fir forest.  And we couldn’t resist at least a brief stop at an overlook with this amazing scenery.

Our next stop was the Massie Gap area which is the best spot for nesting Alder Flycatchers locally.  They were long gone by September, but Allen showed me the wet area where they breed.  Yet another spot to remember on my summer trip to the area.  On the way back we ran into a few more warblers, notably another Cape May and another Magnolia. 

It was now early afternoon, and with a long drive home ahead of me, I decided to call it a day.  I ended up with 61 species for the 2-day trip, including 14 warbler species.  Very respectable numbers given the limited migration that occurred while I was in town.  And most importantly I added 4 new statebirds.  That brings my VA statelist up to 271. 

I can’t thank Allen enough for all of his help.  Not only for his tips on this trip but also for his advice to help me look for my summer target birds.  Hopefully I can get back to the area next summer and keep filling gaps in my VA statelist.