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Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Upcoming Events and a Contest

 Just a quick post to remind everyone that’s local or going to be in the VA/NC area during the 2nd week of May to stop over and visit the Great Dismal Swamp NWR for its 5th Annual Birding Festival. The event starts on Thursday the 12th of May thru Saturday the 14th. There will be guided bird and nature walks, bird banding demonstrations and various workshops. Saturday (14th) will be family fun day that will include children activities, live music, food and more. I’ve had a great time at this event in the past and looking forward to it again next month. Check out their website for more details.

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The Dismal Swamp is a great place to bird this time of year. During the spring migration, thousands of warblers pass through the swamp on the way to their summer breeding grounds. Many birds, like the prothonotary warbler and American Redstart will stay and nest on the refuge. Although not that great, here’s a photo I took of a redstart last weekend in the Dismal Swamp:

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I got a sneak preview last weekend, along with my Master Naturalist group, when we all went birding there with local birding expert Bob Ake. We had a nice encounter with two
Barred Owls who responded to Bobs call (by mouth) and some good looks at Prothonotary Warblers, American Redstarts, and a Belted Kingfisher to name a few. Bob is excellent at identifying birds by ear so he helped us identify a few singing birds like the Louisiana Waterthrush and the ever elusive Swainson's Warbler that was calling nearby, but unfortunately never showed itself.

And for another bit of upcoming news…

Birds ‘n Such, for the very first time, will be featuring a contest and giveaway sponsored by Wild Birds Unlimited. All the details will be available in my next post in a couple of days. STAY TUNED, you don’t want to miss it!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Website Updates

I'm currently in the process of making some design changes to the blog over the next few days, so if things look a little out of whack that's the reason.  Thanks for your patience!