Great Dismal Swamp, VA: 1st May

Great Dismal Swamp... as soon as I saw the name on the map, I knew I had to get there! And four days after setting off from New York, we made it, tucked right in at the bottom of Virginia, within spitting distance of North Carolina, and definitely in 'The South'. The place certainly met expectations: it really was Great!!

112,000 acres of (very) wet woodland, packed to the gills with singing warblers (headlined by the crazy canary Prothonotary Warbler, together with Pine, Prairie, Hooded, Black and White, and American Redstart), stacks of turtles of five species, butterflies in amazingly large numbers (literally thousands of Question Mark, like a big dark Comma feeding along the tracks, swarms of dragonflies and some cool snakes. My new favourite place!

 Snapping Turtle

 Yellow-belly Slider

 Red-bellied Turtle

 Red-bellied Water Snake

Black Rat Snake: one big snake!

Driving across to the other side of Virginia (the mountains are calling!) we passed by Pocahontas State Park which raised a smile and memories of a visit to her final resting place in the other Norfolk.