Today was another beautiful day in the Great Dismal Swamp. Tracy
Tate joined me this morning for our walk along the north section of
Jericho Ditch. We started at 7:30am with the temperature at 39F and
essentially no wind. We had great listening conditions. We took our
time and patiently checked out everything we saw or heard. The final
total of 37 species is reasonable for this time of year, but nothing
rare was encountered. Of note was our only warbler was a single Myrtle
Warbler, but then the swamp is not one of their strongholds. Catbirds,
both kinglets, Winter Wrens, and Hermit Thrushes were vocal although
none were singing. Woodpeckers were a little more reserved than last
week with no Hairy Woodpecker recorded. As a side note the immature
Herring Gull seen as a flyover was my first for the swamp.
The next walk will have to be late next week which is outside the
longest range weather forecast. But Railroad Ditch is the next hike up
and if the weather looks not-so-good we can do it from our cars. Anyone
who wishes to join me can meet me at the refuge headquarters parking lot
on Desert Road at 7:30am, Thursday, January 29. If the weather is good,
we will walk about 3 miles and return to our cars for a ride to the lake
before leaving the refuge. No reservation is necessary; just show up.
Hope to see you then.
The complete list of birds is given below.
Dismal Swamp NWR Jericho Ditch, Suffolk, US-VA
Jan 19, 2015 7:20 AM - 10:41 AM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
Comments: Submitted from BirdLog NA for Android v1.9.6
37 species
Canada Goose 3
Wood Duck 2
Turkey Vulture 8
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Ring-billed Gull 3
Herring Gull 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 7
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 4
Downy Woodpecker 6
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 3
Pileated Woodpecker 5
Blue Jay 4
American Crow 6
Carolina Chickadee 4
Tufted Titmouse 1
Winter Wren 6
Carolina Wren 12
Golden-crowned Kinglet 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 6
Hermit Thrush 4
American Robin 6
Gray Catbird 8
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling 5
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 1
Eastern Towhee 2
Field Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 5
Swamp Sparrow 3
White-throated Sparrow 30
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 2
Northern Cardinal 4
Red-winged Blackbird 3
Common Grackle 10
American Goldfinch 4
