Today's walk in the Great Dismal Swamp was south along Jericho Ditch from
the parking lot at the end of Jericho Ditch Lane, adjacent to a set of ditch
and road intersections referred to locally as Five-points. I was joined by
Renee Hudgins, John Young and his brother Gilbert. We set out at 7am with the
temperature at 62F, no wind, and a thin 30% overcast. The woodpeckers were in
fine form today with nearly a constant drumming by all species. The Carolina
Jasmine was in bloom. I consider these blooms essential to support incoming
hummingbirds, so now let's have those hummers. A bush blueberry was also in
bloom. A few Leopard Frogs croaked, but those were the only amphibs to be
heard. We had a good count of WHITE-EYED VIREOS which were in good voice. At
the end of the walk a young BROAD-WINGED HAWK came in low over our heads. The
bird list is as follows: Eastern Towhee - 12, Pileated Woodpecker - 9, Carolina
Wren - 8, Red-bellied Woodpecker - 10, Louisiana Waterthrush - 2, Chipping
Sparrow - 1, Common Yellowthroat - 9, White-eyed Vireo - 7, Brown-headed
Cowbird - 2, Common Grackle - 4, Great Blue Heron - 4, Belted Kingfisher - 1,
Northern Cardinal - 2, American Goldfinch - 1, White-throated Sparrow - 12,
Hairy Woodpecker - 6, Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 10 (most singing lustily),
American Robin - 7, Wood Duck - 3, White-breasted Nuthatch - 2, Hermit Thrush -
7 (singing softly), Brown Thrasher - 3, Northern Flicker - 5, Gray Catbird - 5,
American Kestrel - 1, Double-crested Cormorant - 20, Pine Warbler - 4,
Black-and-white Warbler - 4 (singing their squeaky wheel), Carolina Chickadee -
3, Downy Woodpecker - 4, Tree Swallow - 1, Eastern Phoebe - 1, Winter Wren - 1
(singing on and on and on), Laughing Gull - 6, Rusty Blackbird -1 (no large
flock this week), Cedar Waxwing - 20 (eating smilax berries), Turkey Vulture -
4, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1, Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1, Osprey - 1,
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1, Broad-winged Hawk - 1 (for a nice raptorial finish).
Thanks to some fresh otter scat we had nice, closeup encounters with
butterflies. Zebra Swallowtail - 15, Spring Azure - 18, Horace's/Juvenal's
Duskywing - 5, Pearl Crescent - 3, E. Tiger Swallowtail - 4, Sleepy Orange - 4,
Falcate Orangetip - 1. A few dragonflies were also seen. When we finished up
at 11am, the temperature had risen to 72F, the wind had come up out of the NE
to about 8mph, and the sky had a thin 40% overcast but the sun was shining
through strongly.
Next week's walk in the swamp will be on THURSDAY, April 5 leaving from the
Washington Ditch parking lot at 7:00 am. Hope to see you there. No
appointment necessary; just show up.
Cheers,
Bob
Robert L. Ake
6603 Catherine Street
Norfolk VA 23505
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