Today I walked south along Jericho Ditch in the Great Dismal Swamp starting
at 6:45am and finishing at 10:30am. The temperature was 50F-64F during that
time. The road into the parking lot which I know as Jericho Ditch Lane was
quite birdy. I'm not sure why I never park at the lot and walk back along that
road, but maybe I will. I think it's underappreciated. Anyway a Barred Owl
flew across the road directly in front of my car. Two Louisiana Waterthrushes
sang loudly near the road and many Common Yellowthroats were singing as well.
With absolutely no wind, I could here forever and was rewarded with many Hermit
Thrushes singing, chupping, and whining along the path. Ruby-crowned Kinglets
were in full song and Gray Catbirds seem to have increased in number.
During the walk, after reaching the dogleg in the road, I spotted a Black
Bear ahead of me walking south. At one point he stopped and scratched a tree,
then hoisted himself up onto the tree, thought better of it and thudded back
down to the ground. He then turned and began walking north toward me. With
the little bit of wind coming from the south he didn't pick up my scent. So
the distance between us kept narrowing. Finally I stopped and clapped my
hands. He raised up and gave me a good going over but still didn't leave the
road. So I yelled and raised my hands. Reluctantly he turned and splashed off
into the underbrush. I continued to hear him breaking branches and splashing
as he wandered away.
At the same time I saw the bear, a raccoon was running around beyond the
bear with a large bird flying over him and landing from time to time. I
identified the bird as a Red-shouldered Hawk and I came to the conclusion that
there were two predators and one prey species. I think the hawk won the
confrontation and took whatever the raccoon had or wanted and left. After the
bear left the roadway, the raccoon came barreling down the road toward me
totally oblivious of my standing there, again probably because he couldn't pick
up the scent. When he got too close for my comfort, I clapped and he stopped,
stood up, looked at me, bolted in the opposite direction, and plunged into the
ditch and splashed away. Apparently I have animal magnetism!
After I turned around, I met Larry Haugh from VT who had hoped to meet me
earlier, but had gotten a later start than planned. He heard a Black-throated
Green Warbler call, but I missed it. The bird didn't call again. This would
be the Wayne's race of that species, a local breeder and early arriver. We
were in an area with a few remaining Atlantic White Cedars, a favorite habitat
component, and an area where we've had them before. Further along on the way
back to the parking lot we ran into David Hughes and a friend of his talking to
Candie and Vic Delnore on their bicycles. David had earlier heard an anemic
song from a Prairie Warbler, a bird we hadn't heard earlier and in fact didn't
hear as we walked back.
The only butterflies we saw were a few Spring Azures, a couple Zebra
Swallowtails, and one Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.
I'm planning to go to the swamp next Wednesday, April 7. I'll leave the
Washington Ditch parking lot at 7am. Join me if you wish. No reservation
necessary.
The complete ebird list follows.
Wood Duck 2
Wild Turkey 2
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Barred Owl 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 10
Downy Woodpecker 6
Hairy Woodpecker 3
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 5
Pileated Woodpecker 8
White-eyed Vireo 7
Blue-headed Vireo 2
Blue Jay 3
Carolina Chickadee 9
Tufted Titmouse 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Carolina Wren 12
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 14
Hermit Thrush 13
American Robin 6
Gray Catbird 18
Cedar Waxwing 38
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 6
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Yellow-throated Warbler 2
Pine Warbler 1
Louisiana Waterthrush 2
Common Yellowthroat 18
Eastern Towhee 11
Swamp Sparrow 3
White-throated Sparrow 14
Northern Cardinal 3
Red-winged Blackbird 32
Common Grackle 9
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
Robert L. Ake
6603 Catherine Street
Norfolk VA 23505
I'm doing an ABA Big Year in 2010 - If you'd like to follow along, my blog is
at http://bobsbirds.blogspot.com/ ;
