Bird Watching on Virginia's Eastern Shore

Bird Watching on Virginia’s Eastern Shore

Each fall, favorable winds funnel millions of migratory birds down the Delmarva Peninsula where they concentrate in large numbers in the undeveloped coastline of the Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Celebrating the shore as a critical stopover along the Mid-Atlantic Flyway, the Eastern Shore of Virginia Birding & Wildlife Festival allows bird watchers to witness this spectacular drama.

by Laura M. Kammermeier

There are plenty of reasons to attend the Eastern Shore of Virginia Birding & Wildlife Festival this fall, and at least a million have wings and fly.

Situated at the base of the Delmarva Peninsula, the Eastern Shore of Virginia is a narrow neck of land that separates the Chesapeake Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. Each fall, favorable wind conditions funnel millions of migratory birds down the shore’s peninsula towards the southernmost town of Cape Charles–a phenomenon that makes the shore an internationally significant stopover site along the mid-Atlantic flyway and a must-see destination for bird watchers.

Held this September 18–21, 2008, the Birding & Wildlife Festival is a chance for both experienced and novice bird watchers to see enormous flocks of migrating birds as they rest and refuel in isolated bays and coves. At countless points along the shore, bird watchers can see shorebirds blanketing tidal mud flats, Neotropical songbirds coating holly and loblolly pines, and raptors soaring overhead in migrating clusters.

The festival is also a chance to brush up on bird and butterfly identification skills, learn from naturalists and birding experts, and experience those cultural nuances that are so uniquely expressed on the shore.

The official kick-off (www.onancockbirding.com) will take place on Thursday, September 18th in Onancock, an artsy, bayside town full of small restaurants and quaint bed and breakfasts. Choose from a bird-watching kayak tour of Parker Marsh or a live raptor demonstration in Gazebo Park.

Pete Dunne, world birder and director of the Cape May Bird Observatory, will give the keynote presentation Friday evening. The rest of the festival activities will span the peninsula from Cape Charles to Chincoteague Island—a distance of about 70 miles. Program events include bird-watching workshops, butterfly and dragonfly walks, nocturnal bat and owl walks, gallery tours, songbird banding, as well as a variety of boat tours that will offer intimate looks at offshore birds.

With the longest stretch of undeveloped coastline on the eastern seaboard of the United States, Virginia’s Eastern Shore is tidy but unspoiled. On the seaside, a ribbon of deserted barrier islands protects huge tracts of salt marsh and vast tidal mud flats teeming with marine life. On the bay side, estuaries and tidal mudflats dot the shoreline. And because much of the peninsula is owned by government agencies or conservation groups, wildlife thrives in its protected landscape, especially birds.

A major highlight of the festival is the opportunity for guided exploration of remote barrier islands where access is difficult or restricted but birds are plentiful.

By land, the festival will offer guided walking tours of Fisherman Island National Wildlife Refuge, an exceptional barrier island a half-mile off the southern tip of the peninsula. The island is one of only 17 sites in the United States classified as a “Wetland of International Importance,” and is known for its large nesting colonies of terns, gulls, herons, and ibises. In fall, clapper rails, ruby-crowned kinglets, American kestrels, egrets, American redstarts and many other birds are abundant.

By water, the festival will offer the Cobb Bay Bird Excursion, a boating tour of Cobb Island Bay and the surrounding marshes where American oystercatchers, marbled godwits, whimbrels, sandpipers, and other birds will be spotted on high-tide roosts. You’re also likely to view large roosting colonies of royal and Caspian terns as the boat cruises by other island beaches. Peregrine falcons—which nest here in spring—might lurk overhead.

Other Festival Highlights

Tour of Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge

Known for its wild ponies, fragile dunes, and freshwater impoundments, this premier wildlife refuge offers a mosaic of habitats that makes for great birding. This six-hour trip will be guided by noted birding expert Ned Brinkley and will explore the famed three-mile wildlife loop and the secluded Wash Flats.

Songbird Banding at Kiptopeke State Park

More than a quarter of a million birds have been banded at Kiptopeke State Park (located in Cape Charles) in the past 30 years. After a quick hike on the grounds, volunteers will give a bird-banding demo and discuss insights gleaned from this long-term banding program.

Savage Neck Dunes Natural Area Preserve

This beautiful preserve protects one mile of Chesapeake Bay shoreline and features the highest dune on the Eastern Shore and the rare northeastern beach tiger beetle. This three-hour trip offers a good look at migrating birds that rest and feed in the unique dunes, wetlands, and maritime forest in the preserve.

Tour of Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel

This trip will save your neck! Birding along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel at 55 mph can give you a good case of whiplash. But this tour of the bridge-tunnel islands will allow leisurely looks at the birds that congregate here, plus some you cannot see from land. Cormorants, black skimmers, night-herons, and ruddy turnstones are possible finds.

The bridge-tunnel is “One of the Seven Engineering Wonders of the Modern World.” If you can, stop at the remote Seagull Pier Restaurant for the legendary fried flounder sandwich!

Scenic Serenity Schooner Sailing Tour

Join world-class skippers Greg and Laura Lohse on their 63-foot traditional schooner for a 2.5-hour sail around Chesapeake Bay. The captains will tell you all about the Bay’s rich ecology and history while you enjoy the tranquility of the bay.

The full festival program can be downloaded online.

But be sure to register early—these special programs have limited capacity.

Plenty To Do For Your Non-Birding Partner!

While there are plenty of reasons to head to the Eastern Shore this fall, they don’t all have wings. Like the outdoors? Try kayaking, fishing, golfing, or boating (Captain Barry’s Back Bay Cruises gives hilarious and informative tours of Chincoteague Bay). Enjoy culture? Tour a boutique winery or take a walking tour of an historic harbor town. Or travel back in time at Tangier Island—a tiny island where native residents still tell tales in their sing-song Elizabethan twang.

To get the most from Virginia's Eastern Shore, bring your binoculars, check into a one of the many B & B’s, and be sure to venture off the central highway down nostalgic backroads, where friendly people enjoy a simple, coastal lifestyle amidst a potpourri of natural splendors.

For more information:

Lodging

Cape Charles (South)

Onancock (Central)

Chincoteague (North)

Good Eats

Great Machipongo Clam Shack—gourmet seafood.
Sea Seagull Pier Restaurant—the fried flounder sandwich is legendary!
Sting-Ray's—the iconic one-stop shop of The Shore.

Wineries

Water Tours

Southeast Expeditions—expert kayakers
Captain Barry's Back Bay Cruises—highly recommended!
Broadwater Bay Eco-Tours

Laura Kammermeier writes about bird watching and nature travel from her home in upstate, New York.


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