It was gorgeous this morning. Admittedly a little cool (28F), but with
the sun and blue sky, who cares about the temperature. I was joined at
7am by Renee Hudgins for the walk along Railroad and West Ditches and
return, a total distance of 6 miles. A pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers
were calling as we worked through the piney section at the beginning of
the walk. We spooked a total of four pairs of Wood Ducks from the
ditches along the way. One of the pair of Red-shouldered Hawks which
has nested nearby took to the air, calling. We heard several singing
Ruby-crowned Kinglets; but even though there were many Hermit Thrushes
and Winter Wrens, none was heard singing today. A new warbler for the
swamp this spring was a singing Common Yellowthroat, a bird previously
reported elsewhere by others. We had leisurely close-up studies of two
White-eyed Vireos as well as very good sunlit views of one of the two
Blue-headed Vireos we heard singing. Also singing were Swamp Sparrows
and a Fox Sparrow. Rusty Blackbirds were almost always within
earshot. One of the flocks contained more than 100 birds. We had great
views of many of them as they perched, preened, and squawked in the
open. Several weeks ago the red maples had flowered and appeared to be
on there way for the spring. All that has come to a screeching halt
with very little aquatic vegetation in the swamp at West Ditch and no
leafing in the trees. We need a little springtime weather to help out.
Those wintery conditions have also contributed to the lack of migrants
such as Louisiana Waterthrush and Yellow-throated Warbler. Maybe next
week things will pop. The walk next week will be on Wednesday, April 3,
leaving from the parking lot at the end of Jericho Ditch Lane at 7am.
No reservation is necessary. Hope you can join me.
Here's the complete list of birds recorded on today's walk.
Dismal Swamp NWR Railroad Ditch, Suffolk, US-VA
Mar 26, 2013 6:50 AM - 11:35 AM
Protocol: Traveling
6.0 mile(s)
44 species
Wood Duck 8
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 2
Red-headed Woodpecker 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Downy Woodpecker 4
Hairy Woodpecker 3
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 3
Pileated Woodpecker 2
Eastern Phoebe 2
White-eyed Vireo 2
Blue-headed Vireo 2
Blue Jay 1
Carolina Chickadee 4
Tufted Titmouse 4
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Winter Wren 6
Carolina Wren 9
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 6
Eastern Bluebird 1
Hermit Thrush 7
American Robin 10
Gray Catbird 5
Northern Mockingbird 1
Brown Thrasher 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Pine Warbler 6
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 9
Eastern Towhee 8
Fox Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 8
Swamp Sparrow 8
White-throated Sparrow 21
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 1
Northern Cardinal 4
Red-winged Blackbird 7
Rusty Blackbird 150 One large group plus three other smaller groups.
Common Grackle 20
Purple Finch 1
American Goldfinch 4
View this checklist online at
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S13526805
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
