Folks,
*Quick Notes*
Great Dismal Swamp NWR (Jericho Ditch Trail) - 8:00 - 11:05 AM - Prairie
Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat,
Black-and-White Warbler, Great Crested Flycatcher, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher,
Wild Turkey, River Otters, Black Bear tracks.
Great Dismal Swamp NWR (Washington Ditch Boardwalk) - 11:20 AM -12:20 PM -
Ovenbird, Northern Parula
*Outing Photographs*
*http://www.rbnature.com/galleries/we-20150419/
<http://www.rbnature.com/galleries/we-20150419/>*
*Last Week's Recap*
*http://www.rbnature.com/blog/we-20150412
<http://www.rbnature.com/blog/we-20150412>*
*Full Outing Details*
This morning I headed out from Virginia Beach to the Great Dismal Swamp
about 7 AM, arriving at the Jericho Ditch Trailhead parking area just
before 8 AM. On the way into the park, *Prairie & Prothonotary Warblers*
could be heard from the car, almost deafening at this time of day. I walked
the Jericho Ditch Trail southeastward, passing the junction with the Lynn
Ditch where I could see a pair of *Wild Turkey* about a half mile or so
down, one, a male, was all puffed up and looked massive even at that
distance. It was almost hard to isolate other bird songs from the Prairie
Warblers the first mile or so, there was an incredible amount of them
singing along the trailsides. As I got further down the trail though, the
Prothonotary Warblers became the dominant singers. About a mile in, the
trail makes a jog across the ditch, then follows that side for the
remainder, and in this area I spotted a rather large *Black Bear track* in
the muddy path. It looked a few days old though as the rains of the week
had warped it a bit. I saw a few more tracks as I kept moving southeast,
heading in the same direction, but I never saw any bears on the trip. In
the next mile of the trail, I spotted my first of year *Black-and-White
Warblers*, as a pair flew across the trail to a tree, and scampered around
the trunk. *American Redstarts* could also be heard in a couple of spots,
but I never got a look at any today. *Wood Ducks *were seen scattered along
the small ditches, and I spooked quite a few of them, though some were
probably repeat birds. Zebra Swallowtails were by far the dominant
butterflies in the area, and only a few Tiger Swallowtails and a lone Black
Swallowtail showed up as well.
In the final mile and a half before the fire tower, *Gray Catbirds* were
the star of the show. There was tons of them along this stretch, and their
calls of all different types made it impossible to hear the other birds of
the swamp. I don't know if this is a known breeding area for the masses of
Catbirds, but many of them were carrying nest materials, and a number of
them were calling out in the open which isn't typical from what I've seen
of this species. Near here also, I watched as a pair of Prairie Warblers
chased one another down into the underbrush, snapping a couple of
photographs as they attempted to breed in the dense foliage. I don't think
my presence was too much of a hinderance for these birds. Once I reached
the fire tower, a pair of *Turkey Vultures *were sitting at the top, some
100+ feet up in the air. I wondered what the view must be like from up
there, given that it is taller than the surrounding tree canopy, I'd
imagine one could see quite far from there. I kept going a bit further
southeast, but the trail turned into a muddy mess, and the grasses are
already started to grow high, so I made the decision to just turn around
and head back the same way (I'd originally planned to do a circuit of this
trail, the Middle Ditch & Lynn Ditch to get me back).
Headed back northwest towards the parking area, I ran into a pair of hikers
visiting the park the first time, hailing from northeast Canada. We chatted
a few minutes and they kept on in the opposite direction. Just as they'd
left, I noticed a dark shape move out onto the trail a few hundred yards
ahead, and realized it was a River Otter. I called back to the folks to
look that way, and they got to watch as two more shapes moved out. It was a
whole family of River Otters, acting quite playful along the trail, rolling
over one another, and dashing back and forth from side to side. As I neared
them, they of course darted back into the swamp and disappeared, but
watching them in the binoculars was good fun for quite a number of minutes.
After this, the next fun observation was that of a *Great Crested
Flycatcher *that was zooming back and forth across the trail, allowing me a
photograph of it high up a tree. I was nearing the last mile and a half of
the trail, closing in on where the trail jogs across the ditch, when I'd
heard some movement ahead of me. Another River Otter came running out onto
the trail, then jumped into the ditch. As I approached this one, I could
hear thrashing in the water, and I got within about 5 feet of its source. I
watched as an Otter was rolling around in the water, and my instant thought
was that it was tied up on something given how it was behaving and that I
got so close. So I started talking aloud to it just to see its reaction. As
soon as I did, it stopped, stared right up the bank at me, and dove off
into the water. Clearly, it wasn't stuck or tied up to something, so what
was the deal? Well, a few seconds later, a 3-4 foot long Red-bellied
Watersnake came rushing out of the water at the same spot, up the bank,
actually aggressively moved towards me, and then dove to the opposite ditch
across the trail. I did not see the two together, but I believe the Otter
must have been trying to prey on the snake, and was caught up in a struggle
with it when I first approached. This is something I've never before seen
in the wild, so if anyone knows more about the prey Otters typically take,
let me know, I was unaware that they'd pursue large snakes.
After this excitement, I kept onward, and the remainder of the trail was
pretty quiet. Lots of *Blue-gray Gnatcatchers*, and the Prairie &
Prothonotary Warblers were still singing though. I reached the car and
headed off about 11:05 AM or thereabouts. Driving out on the gravel
roadway, I saw a Red-shouldered Hawk perched on a branch above the road,
and also encountered 2 more Wild Turkeys before I hit the entry gate. Since
it was still early, and my hike got cut short, I drove over to Washington
Ditch and walked the boardwalk area next. As with my outing last Sunday, I
could hear a *Northern Parula* calling near the boadwalk's junction with
the ditch trail, and it took me about a half hour this time, but I finally
spotted it, and grabbed some poor quality, though, ID-worthy photographs!
At this point in the day though, most of the birds had stopped singing,
save for some Prothonotaries, and a few *Ovenbirds*, but I walked another
couple of miles in the vicinity of the parking area before calling it a day
and heading out. If you haven't made it to the swamp yet, now is the time,
it is absolutely beautiful right now, having greened up immensely in the
last week!
Rob Bielawski
Virginia Beach, VA
www.rbnature.com
