This morning Renee Hudgins and I walked to Lake Drummond along Washington
Ditch in the Great Dismal Swamp. The temperature stayed relatively constant in
the low 60's. It was completely overcast at the beginning, but the sun emerged
and it was very bright from mid-morning. The wind was quite strong at 20 plus
mph from the NW, and made hearing the birds a little difficult. But it was a
great walk. Highlights were singing YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER at the parking
lot, a singing LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH, a single distinctive utterance from a
WHITE-EYED VIREO, a couple of BLUE-HEADED VIREOS, several squeaking
medium-large flocks of RUSTY BLACKBIRDS, and a group of singing PURPLE FINCHES
among the many AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES. The RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS were singing up
a storm.
We did have a few butterflies: Zebra Swallowtail 8, Pearl Crescent 1,
Eastern Comma 6, Mourning Cloak 2, Falcate Orangetip 1. Other critters
included a couple of White-tailed Deer, a pair of River Otters, and many
calling Spring Peepers. The complete ebird list follows:
Location: Dismal Swamp NWR Washington Ditch
Observation date: 3/20/08
Number of species: 39
Wood Duck 5,Wild Turkey 2, Double-crested Cormorant 3, Great Blue Heron 3,
Turkey Vulture 7, Ring-billed Gull 1, Belted Kingfisher 1, Red-bellied
Woodpecker 6, Downy Woodpecker 7, Hairy Woodpecker 6, , Northern Flicker 3,
Pileated Woodpecker 4, Eastern Phoebe 3, White-eyed Vireo 1, Blue-headed Vireo
2, Blue Jay 1, Carolina Chickadee 8, White-breasted Nuthatch 3, Carolina Wren
8, Golden-crowned Kinglet 1, Ruby-crowned Kinglet 9, American Robin 2, Gray
Catbird 2, Cedar Waxwing 5, Yellow-rumped Warbler 26, Yellow-throated Warbler
1, Pine Warbler 1, Louisiana Waterthrush 1, Common Yellowthroat 1, Eastern
Towhee 3, Song Sparrow 4, Swamp Sparrow 4, White-throated Sparrow 7, Dark-eyed
Junco 5, Red-winged Blackbird 3, Rusty Blackbird 320, Common Grackle 25, Purple
Finch 5, American Goldfinch 40. This report was generated automatically by
eBird v2(http://ebird.org) and reformatted by hand by me.
Robert L. Ake
6603 Catherine Street
Norfolk VA 23505
