Today the Williamsburg Bird Club and guests met at 7:00am at the
Washington Ditch parking lot and headed down the trail toward the lake.
The bird songs started slowly with Wood Thrush and Pine Warbler being
noteworthy at the beginning. Soon more warblers began to be heard
including our first Swainson's Warbler which was just a bit too far off
the trail to try and see. That wasn't the case for the second bird.
After a Herculean group effort the singing bird was spotted and put in
the scope for everyone to get stunning views. It was a lifer for
several. We had a minimum of 4 Swainson's Warblers during the walk. We
saw most of the other warblers on our list of eleven except the Hooded.
We put in a valiant effort, but the reward just wasn't there.
At one point we looked up to see a Barred Owl perched in a small
tree only a few feet off the trail. This owl began to talk with another
nearby owl and soon the woods was full of owls cackling and giving their
monkey calls. Later a surprise for me was a singing Blue-headed Vireo
which went nicely with the Red-eyed and White-eyed Vireos.
The butterflies seen were: E. Tiger Swallowtail 5, Zebra
Swallowtail 15, Question Mark 1, Pearl Crescent 1, Falcate Orangetip 5.
After returning to our cars, a smaller group of us headed down to
Railroad Ditch for a trip into the burn area near Lake Drummond. We
added Prairie Warblers to our list to finish with an even dozen warblers
for the day. We also had a FOY Eastern Kingbird, a hunting Northern
Harrier, a couple of Greater Yellowlegs, and two Wilson Snipes. On our
way through the woods we heard two more Swainson's Warblers. With the
crunching gravel under tire it's difficult to hear much of anything
without stopping frequently which we had chosen not to do. Along
Interior Ditch we saw several Palamedes Swallowtails.
Below are the lists for Washington Ditch and Railroad Ditch (and
West and Interior). Remember the Great Dismal Swamp Birding Festival is
next week, April 23-25, 2015. It's free and open to the public, but you
need to register. For more information see their website.
http://www.fws.gov/nwrs/threecolumn.aspx?id=2147564299
Dismal Swamp NWR Washington Ditch, Suffolk, US-VA
Apr 18, 2015 6:44 AM - 11:12 AM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 mile(s) on foot
40 species
Wood Duck 2
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Turkey Vulture 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Barred Owl 6
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1
Pileated Woodpecker 3
Great Crested Flycatcher 5
White-eyed Vireo 1
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 3
Blue Jay 1
Carolina Chickadee 2
Carolina Wren 8
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Hermit Thrush 2
Wood Thrush 1
American Robin 1
Ovenbird 3
Louisiana Waterthrush 3
Prothonotary Warbler 15
Swainson's Warbler 4
Common Yellowthroat 4
Hooded Warbler 4
American Redstart 5
Northern Parula 2
Pine Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 7
Yellow-throated Warbler 2
White-throated Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 1
Red-winged Blackbird 4
Common Grackle 2
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
American Goldfinch 3
Dismal Swamp NWR Railroad Ditch, Suffolk, US-VA
Apr 18, 2015 11:26 AM - 1:26 PM
Protocol: Traveling
6.0 mile(s) by car with some stops along Interior Ditch in the burn area
27 species
Mallard 2
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 6
Northern Harrier 1
Killdeer 1
Greater Yellowlegs 2
Wilson's Snipe 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Great Crested Flycatcher 8
Eastern Kingbird 1
White-eyed Vireo 3
Carolina Chickadee 1
Tufted Titmouse 2
Carolina Wren 1
American Robin 1
Ovenbird 2
Prothonotary Warbler 6
Swainson's Warbler 2
Common Yellowthroat 10
Hooded Warbler 2
Pine Warbler 3
Prairie Warbler 6
Eastern Towhee 2
White-throated Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 4
Common Grackle 4
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Robert Ake
Norfolk VA
