FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] Rockingham Bird Club field trip to Dismal Swamp et al.

[JMIrvine@xxxxxxx]

Over the weekend of April 29-May 1 Diane Holsinger led a group of 20  birders 
from Rockingham County downstate to the Dismal Swamp.  Carloads  visited 
Henricus Park near Dutch Gap and/or Craney Island in Portsmouth on the  way 
down 
Friday, and Henricus Park on the way back Sunday.   Fortunately the rain held 
off all day Saturday.   
 
Henricus Park on Friday yielded Yellow-throated and Prothonotary Warblers,  a 
Red-shouldered Hawk chasing a Bald Eagle, and a number of pairs of  Canada 
Geese closely shepherding their goslings on the roadside grass or amid  the 
pondweeds.  Six of the Great Blue Heron nests in the treetops had  visible 
adult 
birds attending them. 
 
At Craney Island there were two Black-necked Stilts and one American Avocet  
plus one Dowitcher (sp.) along with numerous Yellowlegs of both species in the 
 impoundments; a Semipalmated Plover, some Sanderlings and several  Spotted 
Sandpipers were on the shore.  The peeps were  hanging out at too great a 
distance to identify in the ponds. Five species of  waterfowl were seen, with 
Green-winged Teal predominating in the impoundments  and Ruddy Ducks out on the 
bay.  A single Gull-Billed Tern was seen by some  and missed by others, but the 
expected Royals and one Common Tern were  present.  A single Black Skimmer 
headed off toward the west.
 
Saturday morning the group, now birding together, went to Jericho Ditch  
parking lot in Dismal Swamp NWR and its members were no sooner out of our cars  
when a Swainson's Warbler was heard lustily defending his territory surrounding 
 
the short boardwalk, along with several Prothonotaries lighting up the swamps 
 around us.  We had not been there five minutes when a Barred Owl  came 
swooping up to the top of a tree across the ditch from us,  announcing its 
arrival 
with a full hooting call, and displacing a loudly  protesting Green Heron 
which went off in a squawking huff.  The owl sat  there, out in the open, and 
looked us over for a long time.  For about an  hour the group stayed pretty 
much 
in that one spot, trying to see that master of  skulkers, the Swainson's.  
Every so often another group member or  two managed to get a glimpse of it.  
Finally, apparently tiring of its  game or simply having been outlasted by our 
persistence, it flew up to  about 15 feet high and sat out in the open, in good 
light,  facing us while  we were gathered on the boardwalk, and sang brightly 
for the  better part of a couple of minutes, allowing everyone who had not yet 
seen  it killer looks.  It was the first time I had ever seen a  Swainson's 
Warbler tilt its head down before me so I could see its entire  brown cap in a 
single glance.  
 
In that area and a little later in the Washington Ditch area both species  of 
Cuckoo were present, along with Acadian and Great Crested Flycatcher,  
White-eyed and Red-eyed Vireos, and eight additional species of warblers:   
Northern 
Parula, Yellow-rumped, Prairie, Black-and-White Warblers; American  Redstart, 
Ovenbird, Common Yellowthroat, and Hooded Warbler.  A happy  assortment of 
butterflies were also seen as the morning warmed up:  5  Falcate Orange-tips, 8 
Carolina Satyrs, 1 Cloudless Sulphur, 2 American  Ladies, numerous Pearl 
Crescents, 1 Spring Azure, and 1 Tiger Swallowtail as we  walked the roads 
beside 
the ditches.  But the best butterfly  treat was again in the parking lot at 
Jericho Ditch.  There up to 14  Palomedes Swallowtails, plus one Zebra 
Swallowtail, were very persistent from  midmorning to midafternoon in drinking 
from one 
particular dry-looking spot  in the ground, probably a place where an animal 
had urinated.   Single-mindedly, they endured quite close approach and much 
photography by  members of the field trip. 
 
Saturday night the front came through and the rain lingered into the  
morning.  We had discussed going to First Landing State Park before heading  
home, 
but with the rain ending from the west we decided to start homeward  and stop 
by 
Henricus Park instead.  By the time we got there the sun  was shining 
brightly and the place was full of birds--47 species'  worth--most singing 
lustily.  
The Bald Eagle and the Red-shouldered  Hawk were both still present but not 
interacting this time; a Blue Grosbeak  perched on the power line in bright 
sunlight serenading for a mate; a Tree  Swallow had found his mate and was 
copulating with her near their nest box with  remarkable persistence.  Warblers 
present included Northern Parula,  Yellow, Yellow-throated, Prothonotary, 
American 
Redstart, and Common  Yellow-throat.  Other noteworthy spring migrants 
included a male Scarlet  Tanager and an adult male Orchard Oriole. 
 
Members drove on back home well satisfied with the weekend's birding, even  
with the rain and wind.  The total trip list came to about 100  species. 
 
John Irvine
Harrisonburg, VA

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