This week my walk in the swamp was moved to
Wednesday because of a schedule conflict. It turned out to follow the
arrival of a Whistling Duck in the Dismal Swamp as reported by Don Schwab.
Hoping to see the bird, I shifted my walk site to Railroad Ditch. I
arrived at 6:30am, the time when the parking lot at the Dismal Swamp National
Wildlife Refuge parking lot is opened. I unloaded my bike which I had
brought along to shorten the time to the duck spot and set off on the Railroad
Ditch roadway. I hadn't gone very far when Don Schwab, Tom Gwynn, and Ned
Brinkley overtook me in a truck. I ditched the bike and jumped into the
truck and rode on to the duck spot, a wet area about 2 miles in along Railroad
Ditch where the road turns south. Already at the spot was Tom Pendleton
who had come from western VA that morning and had ridden his bike to the duck
spot. We looked long and hard. Don even put on waders and sloshed
through the wet area. All to no avail. No duck. We tried the
remainder of the surfaced roads, watching the ditches as we went, and still no
duck. There's a lot of swamp for that duck to be in. Maybe it will
turn up again...soon.
I walked back to my bike from the duck spot and was
passed by a trio from New Hampshire who had actually seen the duck yesterday
prior to Don's sighting. They had gotten good photos and were returning to
the scene before taking off for Chincoteague. I enjoyed a tranquil,
solitary walk, along Railroad Ditch. New birds recorded during the morning
by me for the swamp this year included: Acadian Flycatcher, Eastern Wood-Pewee,
Indigo Bunting, Black-throated Green Warbler, American Redstart, Yellow-billed
Cuckoo, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Solitary Sandpiper, and
Eastern Kingbird. Some of these birds are new because of the shift from
Jericho to Railroad, but it's also clear that a week's time difference during
migration is a relatively long time. Several of these birds were reported
last weekend by several groups who visited the swamp.
The warbler list: Prairie Warbler (3), Prothonotary
Warbler (23), Swainson's Warbler (9), Black-throated Green Warbler (1),
American
Redstart (22), Common Yellowthroat (13), Hooded Warbler (8), Yellow-throated
Warbler (1), Louisiana Waterthrush (4), Black-throated Blue Warbler (3),
Northern Parula (1), Ovenbird (12), Black-and-white Warbler (4), Worm-eating
Warbler (1), and Pine Warbler (2). It has always amazed me how
difficult it is to find American Redstarts along Jericho Ditch but how
common they are along Railroad Ditch.
Let's all give a little mental nudge to that
Whistling Duck!
Cheers,
--- Robert Ake
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