Despite the clouds, we decided to go to the Eastern Shore today. I am
glad we did!
First stop was the first island of the CBBT,,,where we immediately came
across a harbor seal on the rocks on the bay side near the restaurant
building. It was gorgeous and despite the lack of sunlight, it seemed
to be basking in the sun. It was laying on the point of a rock...looked
very uncomfortable to me. I got some great pics and will post them later.
Also at the first island were a pair of OysterCatchers, many Ruddy
Turnstones, Cormorants, the normal pigeons and gulls...not much else.
After that stop, we stopped at the pulloff before the toll booth...many
gulls and several pair of osprey moving around. As we were pulling out
of the parking lot, waiting in traffic to cross, Looked up and there
about 20 Great Blue Herons flying over...many of them with branches or
limbs in the mouths...we watched them fly towards the marsh of the
reserve...it was quite something to see.
We left there and headed to Chincoteague...the sun came out and it was a
gorgeous day. Everything at Chincoteague is full of water....more than
I have seen there for a long time. No water fowl in the canal that runs
along the beach road...there were a few GBH further down, and many
northern shovelers down near the visitor's center. We have the off road
pass and rode down the beach. They had the rope off to restrict
visitors to the hook end of the beach...starting tomorrow to protect the
nesting birds. We went all the way around to the front side of the hook
and were treated to a group of about 200 shorebirds that seemed to be a
mix of sandpipers and others. I will have to look them up once I get my
pics done. Many gulls, and lots of waterfowl off the shore 20-60 yards
or so.
We came back from the beach and hit the wildlife loop....I immediately
spotted the male bald eagle sitting near the nest and after searching
found the nest and the female. It looked like she was tending to a
chick, but I could not see well enough to know for sure. Again, the
whole area was flooded and most everything was off towards the center
making it difficult to get any pictures. There were 40 or so of the
swans reported earlier, and many northern shovelers....they seemed to
outnumber everything. There were a few egrets scattered around and of
course the Canadas were still there.
One note, we did not see a single osprey at Chincoteague....
The cloud and rain came in around 4 so we headed for dinner and then the
trip home. Despite the weather, it was still a great day.
Coming home, we saw an albino deer near the road right before gettin gon
the CBBT....it was an awesome sight.
Barbara Houston
New Kent
