Day 123: May 2nd – Swallows

Partly sunny after morning showers, mid 70s

       Still en route to our New York abode, we have stopped by the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge in the hopes of finally coming across a “fall out” of warblers.  Last night, there were some heavy storms in the area, and we hoped that these might have delayed some of the warblers we assume are heading north.  Warblers were not on the menu today, however.  We had Common yellowthroat as our lone warbler species.  Also of note were a good number of Bobwhites, but even though they sang their song as loudly as they could, they never did show themselves.  We did have our first Indigo bunting of the year, a real beauty, but again too distant to make a good photo subject.

       What we did have were swallows.  Three different species made their presence known and did provide respectable images.  Our first swallow was the species that we found yesterday along the bayside beach.  The Northern rough-winged swallows were present in good numbers and were more than happy to sit and pose for the camera.

Northern rough-winged swallow

       Second up in the order were the Tree swallows.  Although we’ve had these further south this year, the sight of them setting up home in the bluebird boxes near the boat launch was a joy to behold.

       Finally, in the dark shadows of an old WWII concrete bunker, the Barn swallows were busy making their nests along the rooflines.  When I saw these swallows flying in and out of the bunker, I was hoping for Cliff swallows, but the forked tail and the lack of the white “head light” made these Barns. 

       One last photo of interest is that of an Eastern box turtle.  These have been harder and harder to locate in their New York habitat, but they were certainly here at the refuge.  I removed three from the dirt roads hoping to avoid a collision between the boaters and the turtles.  Nice to see them flourishing here.

       Once again, it’s a forced march home as we really want to get back to our friends, family and the mountains of the Hudson Highlands.  We arrived back in New York at about 6:00 PM and will begin to scour the highlands for whatever migrants have arrived as early as tomorrow.  Till then……