Highland County, June 7, 2025

Three club members tallied 72 species today on our trip to Highland County. We started off with drizzle rain at the Confederate Breastworks. At Bramble Hill we started with light drizzling rain but then the clouds broke and the sun started to peek thru. Here, Andrew found a singing Golden-winged Warbler as well as a (female) Golden-winged/Blue-winged Warbler hybrid (see photo by Andrew, likely a Brewster’s Warbler, gathering nest material) at the top of the trail behind the house. At Laurel Fork, we had Least Flycatcher and Alder flycatcher. We ended our day in Straight Fork where we had Magnolia and Canada Warbler as well as two Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. Other highlightes included Bobolink, Bald Eagle, and Chestnut-sided Warbler. We had a total of 14 species of Warblers, 3 species of Thrush, 5 species of Flycatcher, Black-billed Cuckoo, 4 species of Woodpeckers with the most notable Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. We didn’t have time to cover Paddy’s Knob where the Mourning Warblers are found. –Allen Larner