A Place You "Otter" Go

Well, a whole month has gone by since I last posted, and once again, I am three hikes behind.  I'll catch up one at a time, starting with my return to the Great Dismal Swamp.  I led an ODATC hike there on March 16, and we hiked on the West Ditch and South Ditch Trails, just like back in January when I scouted this area.  This time, I went a little further, almost to the end.  The total distance of this out and back hike was 9.7 miles.  See the January post for a map of the route.

Spring was springing in the swamp.  It was a sunny day, and most of us picked up a bit of sunburn.  The trees were beginning to bud.

Here, my group - there were eight of us - amble down the West Ditch Trail.

Reflections in swamp water.

The trails are so straight that you can see for a long way.  I would periodically raise my binoculars and scan ahead for bears and such.

A heavy wall of invasive bamboo lines a good part of the West Ditch Trail.  I don't know how they would ever get rid of it.

I liked the starkness of this dead tree against the bright blue sky.  By this time, we were hiking due east along the South Ditch Trail.  In the distance, we spied a dark animal moving around.  There was only one thing it could be - a bear!  We would stop periodically to see what he was doing.  He always stayed to the right side of the trail.  But as we got closer, doubt began to enter our minds.

Here is the "bear!"  From a half mile away, it looked black, and it was open and windy there, so the bush would move in the wind.  We called it the Green Bear, figuring it was dressing for Saint Patrick's Day.

At some point, a large fire had moved through this part of the swamp, which was wide open - no curtain of bamboo here.  As we moved along, Jim said "There's an otter!"  After the "bear" incident, I was doubtful, but sure enough, there was a river otter, then a second, and then a third.

We could hear the otters calling back and forth to each other as they moved through the swamp.  They did a kind of circular pattern, moving and disappearing through the dense vegetation, then entering the water.

They would swim for a bit, sometimes entering the vegetation again, but eventually circling back right in front of us.  They didn't have fear of us, and entertained us for nearly a half hour.

It was so entertaining that we just decided to have lunch right there and watch the show.

Other than the green bear and the otters, the only wildlife we saw were a couple of turkey vultures, but we did see this old abandoned beaver dam.  If it were active, beavers would never allow this much water to flow through.

You never know what you will see in the Great Dismal Swamp.  We got lucky today with the otters, seeing them up close and for a long while.  It was a good day out in Mother Nature!

Great Dismal Swamp - Southern Section

Once again, I've let my hiking blog get badly out of date.  I have taken three hikes since my last post.  I am trying to decide whether to post them or not, but at the least, I will start by posting my January 23rd hike in the southern part of the Great Dismal Swamp.

Here is the track.  We drove past the headquarters, then drove along gravel roads in the wildlife refuge.  After driving to Lake Drummond (top right corner of the image) for a quick look, we returned to the trail head for the Western Ditch (purple star) and parked the car.  The hike was about 3.3 miles each way.  We could have gone further but were getting a late start and it was a long drive home, and we hiked at a slow pace looking for birds and other wildlife.  Once we reached the end of the Western Ditch, it was a hard left on the Southern Ditch.

Dead trees might seem unsightly, but they are critically important to many animals, such as woodpeckers and other cavity nesting birds.  This one has really been worked over by woodpeckers.

Who knows what lurks in the dark swamp waters?

 The ditch trails are seemingly as straight as arrows.

Look at all the fresh stumps of small trees cut down by the industrious beaver!

Speaking of the world's second largest rodent, here is his dam.

And here is his lodge - you can see his stockpile of food in front of it.  A beaver has a pretty comfortable life until he cuts down all of his food supply.  Then, it is not so good.

We saw some birds, and recorded them on eBird as we went.  I saw an otter flash across the path, and we found the sad remains of this yellow-bellied slider.

I liked the starkness of this stump and the brightness of these berries.

We were nearly back to the car when my friend Carlton said "Stop!" So, I did, thinking that he must have seen a cool bird.  I looked up.  I looked ahead.  I saw nothing.  "Look down, by your left leg," he said.  And when I did, there was this beautiful plain-bellied water snake, which until recently was named the red-bellied water snake.  I was shocked to see a snake out and about on a January day that, while not frigid, was not exactly warm either.  We got some photos for identification later, then left this little harmless snake alone.

I always enjoy exploring in the Great Dismal Swamp, and hope to return in the next month or two.

Lynn Ditch in the Great Dismal Swamp

Yay!  I've now caught up the accounts of my latest four hikes  Unlike the Sky Meadows hike, this one was really flat.  The goal was to lead a group hike to Lake Drummond in the Great Dismal Swamp, with four of us riding down together and the other two joining us there.  Unfortunately, when we got there, the gate to the trail was closed, with a sign saying that the Washington Ditch Trail was closed through February.  The other two were not there and didn't respond to calls or emails, so after about 20 minutes, we drove to the Jericho Ditch / Lynn Ditch Trailhead and hiked from there.  We hiked due south in a pretty straight line, reached the Washington Ditch Trail in about 5.5 miles, ate lunch (and got a great picture of a bobcat), and hiked back.  This was on "Black Friday."  REI had suggested opting out of shopping and getting outside, and that is what we did.  I won't call this hike boring because you are always looking for animals and such, but it not an exciting hike terrain-wise.

Here is the track, topographic map style and satellite image:

The word "swamp" conjures up a foreboding image in lots of people's mind - dark waters, insects, soggy ground.  For sure, there are lots of wet areas here.

But lots of the Great Dismal Swamp has been drained and converted to farmland or development.  And other sections have been drained so that pretty dry paths cut through the swamp.  Along the pathways are generally a wetland area, or "ditch", that has slowly flowing water.  We walked on the Lynn Ditch Trail, which connects the Jericho and Washington Ditch Trails.

We saw very little wildlife along the walk, and the neatest thing was a green heron that hung out near us for a while.  We also saw a belted kingfisher as it rattled along.  And we saw this poor little guy, which I think is a short-tailed shrew.

Here is another view of the Lynn Ditch Trail, which looks as straight as an arrow.  I continually scanned ahead with my binoculars hoping to see a black bear.

We saw lots of bear scat, like this, but no bears.  We literally could have walked within 20 feet of one and never see it, though - the vegetation away from the trails is that thick here.

Hey, I told you that we got a good picture of a bobcat?  Well, here it is, ha, ha!  The keys were actually in it!  The trail ahead was the Washington Ditch Trail, my original goal for the hike.

Our hike back was exactly the way we came.  We went a bit faster, but I did take note of a little fall color.  Actually, on the drive out of Suffolk, we all saw some of the most beautiful color we had seen all year!

Remember the other two, the couple that was going to meet us at the trail head?  Well, for starters, they left their mobile phone home by mistake.  But they arrived at the gate to the trail head about 10 minutes ahead of us, and the gate opened!  They drove in, waited for us, gave up, and hiked to Lake Drummond just the two of them.  The gate did not open for us, and the sign was pretty clear that the trail was closed.  Ah, well!  A good hike was had by all regardless.

Executing Plan "C"

I had a number of plans for hikes in November and early December, including a short backpacking trip.  Those changed about 6 weeks ago when I went to put down a folding table after a meeting.  Whoever set it up forgot to lock the legs, and when I touched it, it collapsed and slammed into my left foot.  I am pretty sure I broke a toe, but if not, it sure hurt for a while and kept me from being so active.  Two weeks ago, instead of going backpacking (plan A), heading along with a group on a tough mountain day hike (Plan B), I decided that my toe was still too sore, so I executed Plan C - a nature hike in Dutch Gap Conservation Area.  This is one of my go to local hikes.  I always enjoy it, and I usually see wildlife.  It is a fairly mellow hike - level and not too long: from 4.5 to 6 miles or so depending on optional side paths.  As usually, I saw a variety of birds, and I enjoyed getting some exercise.  My injured toe was taped to its buddy, but by then, it was not too painful for this kind of a walk. 

Here are a few photos of the hike:

Looking over the oxbow:

Red berries:

Forested path:

A tranquil pond:

Cormorants at rest:

The last of the fall colors:

Eastern meadowlark:

While it's been disappointing to be off my feet a fair amount during the last of the nice fall weather, I am grateful to be out hiking again, if at a lower intensity for a while.

Cumberland Marsh Again

I'm behind again on posting about hiking.  This hike was done March 24.  I returned to Cumberland Marsh Natural Area - always a good spot to see birds and even other wildlife (such as two raccoons in the distance foraging in the marsh).  This time, I did a 4.4 mile out and back with a loop portion that went through the forest

but also had nice wetland views.

  I walked the loop counter-clockwise.  Here is a topographic map view and a satellite image view of the hike.  Arrows show the direction hiked.

I observed 14 species of birds on the hike, the coolest being the majestic bald eagle (two of them):

Some other wildlife that observed along the way were the white-throated sparrow (oh, such a beautiful, sweet song they have),

the silver spotted skipper,

and the falcate orange wingtip.

This is becoming one of my favorite places for a short hike when I don't have time to get to the mountains.  Can you see why?