This morning I was joined by Ernie Miller and Jim Marcum for the
walk down Washington Ditch. It had sprinkled a little on the drive from
Norfolk to the swamp, but there was no rain during our walk. From the
gate we could see that way down the ditch were two turkeys strutting
their thing. But the biggest early sighting of note was that I recorded
my first Swainson's Warbler west of the parking lot. It was singing
from the south side of the ditch. We heard four others during the walk,
but none were close enough to be seen. Barred Owls called several times
including the full cackling. As was true last week there were a lot of
Yellow-billed Cuckoos calling and flying around affording some great
views. We ended up with seven Acadian Flycatchers after a rather slow
start for the morning. No real migrants were detected; all the birds
recorded were summer breeders, including a total of 9 warbler species.
Indigo Bunting and Blue Grosbeak were recorded several times in the
interior of the swamp.
Mammals included several Gray Squirrels, a spotted White-tailed
Deer fawn, and a Red Bat flying over the canal. Butterflies included
several Palamedes Swallowtails, a couple of Zebra Swallowtails, a Spring
Azure, 8 Questionmarks, and what was probably a Henry's Elfin.
My last Dismal Swamp walk for this year will leave the head of
Railroad Ditch at 7:00am. We will walk until 10am, turn around and
return to our cars. Those who wish to do so can then drive to the lake
and the burn area. However, if the weather should be bad, we will stay
with our cars until 7:30am when the gate opens and drive along the
route, stopping as frequently as possible along the way to bird. No
reservation is necessary; just show up. Hope to see you there.
The complete birdlist for this morning's walk is below.
Dismal Swamp NWR Washington Ditch, Suffolk, US-VA
May 18, 2015 6:35 AM - 11:25 AM
Protocol: Traveling
4.0 mile(s) by foot
42 species
Wood Duck 2
Wild Turkey 2
Great Blue Heron 2
Great Egret 1
Black Vulture 1
Turkey Vulture 3
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Mourning Dove 1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 13
Barred Owl 3
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 6
Downy Woodpecker 5
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1
Pileated Woodpecker 4
Eastern Wood-Pewee 8
Acadian Flycatcher 7
Great Crested Flycatcher 7
Red-eyed Vireo 5
Blue Jay 4
Carolina Chickadee 4
Tufted Titmouse 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Carolina Wren 16
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Eastern Bluebird 1
Ovenbird 1
Louisiana Waterthrush 3
Prothonotary Warbler 19
Swainson's Warbler 5
Common Yellowthroat 4
Hooded Warbler 4
American Redstart 11
Pine Warbler 1
Prairie Warbler 1
Summer Tanager 2
Northern Cardinal 1
Blue Grosbeak 3
Indigo Bunting 6
Common Grackle 3
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Bob Ake
Norfolk
