Special location: Rappahannock Westminster-Canterbury
Teta Kain will present program on the Dismal Swamp at Northern Neck Audubon Society’s April 1, meeting at Rappahannock-Westminster Canterbury 132 Lancaster Drive, Irvington, Virginia 22480 in the RW-C Auditorium.
The meeting will begin at 3:15 with refreshments and social time. The program will begin at 3:30 following a brief general meeting. All NN Audubon Society meetings are free and open to the public.
There will be NNAS Board Meeting 1:30 in the Chesapeake Game Room and anyone is invited to observe.
Alice Stieve’s article from the NNAS March/April 2019 Newsletter
Mysterious. Beautiful. Dark. Frightening. Unique. Those and many other adjectives have been used to describe the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, that immense tract of low-lying wetland located in southeastern Virginia just southwest of Norfolk.
Somewhat tamed by a system of drainage ditches and crisscrossed by a series of roads, the Swamp is still a place of mystery and conjures up fear in the hearts of many. The Swamp is packed with wildlife and is in reality a goldmine of wildlife and plants, many found nowhere else but the Swamp. Sitting in the heart of the refuge lies beautiful Lake Drummond, one of only two natural lakes in the state. Fish and Wildlife describes the refuge as follows:
“The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is the largest intact remnant of a vast habitat that once covered more than one million acres of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. Formal protection of this resource began in 1973, when the Union Camp Corporation (a local forest products company) donated 49,097 acres to The Nature Conservancy, which in turn conveyed the donated land to the federal government. Those acres in combination with an adjacent, purchased tract, became established in 1974 as the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.”
The Dismal Swamp Act of 1974 directs the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to “Manage the area for the primary purpose of protecting and preserving a unique and outstanding ecosystem, as well as protecting and perpetuating the diversity of animal and plant life therein. Management of the refuge will be directed to stabilize conditions in as wild a character as possible, consistent with achieving the refuge’s stated objectives.”
Our presenter for the April 1st meeting will be Teta Kain, a veteran paddle master on the Dragon Run, a 40-mile long swamp tributary of the Piankatank River. Teta frequents Dismal Swamp, assisting with bird surveys, participating in butterfly and bird counts, leading field trips and enjoying private photographic safaris to all parts of the refuge. From cold wintery mornings to hellishly hot July afternoons, Teta explores the wonders of the flora and fauna of this paradise of birds, butterflies and other natural wonders.
Teta Kain has been a wildlife photographer for over 40 years and has traveled extensively throughout the United States, especially in Virginia, photographing everything from bugs to birds. Since the early 1980s, she has been involved with nature and environmental organizations. She has met literally thousands of people, chased a million birds and butterflies and says there aren’t enough hours to do and see all of the wonderful things to be had here in Virginia.
Teta has been active in many nature and conservation organizations and is a strong proponent of environmental protection. Over a 27-year period, she has served the Virginia Society of Ornithology as president, secretary, chairman of the State Bird Records Committee, and editor of the its bird journal, The Raven. She is a member of the Butterfly Society of Virginia and the Virginia Native Plant Society and is a past president of the Omaha, Nebraska Audubon Chapter.
Don’t miss hearing Teta...at Rappahannock Westminster Canterbury, on April 1st.