NASSAWADOX (Sunday, December 16, 2007) & CAPE CHARLES (Sunday, December
30), VIRGINIA, CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS (sponsored by the Coastal Virginia
Wildlife Observatory):
You are invited to participate. PLEASE let me know if you can & who is
going to be with you. All are welcome.
November 28, 2007, Wednesday
Henry ("Harry") T. Armistead
523 E. Durham St.
Philadelphia
PA 19119-1225
harryarmistead at hotmail dot com (please do not use 74077.3176 at
compuserve dot com)
215-248-4120 home
410-745-2764 MD vacation home (most weekends)
215-913-4785 cell
1. 43nd CAPE CHARLES CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT: Sunday, December 30, 2007.
RESERVATIONS. Make A.S.A.P. in case, as seems likely this year, there is a
stampede of striped bass (rock or rockfish) anglers in December.
HEADQUARTERS: KIPTOPEKE INN (formerly Day's Inn; 757-331-1000) on the W.
side of Rt. 13, it is 6.3 miles s. of the light that is at the turn off of
Rt. 13 to the town of Cape Charles and 0.3 mi. N of the entrance to
Kiptopeke State Park (Rt. 704) on the W side of Route 13. Just S of the
aforementioned light is a Food Lion and McDonald's. I will arrive at
Kiptopeke Inn at c. 8 P.M., Dec. 29, and will be ensconced in splendor.
Party assignments, maps, Jim Beam and their/its ilk will be dispensed on
count eve.
Kiptopeke Inn has Internet access that works most of the time. There's a
continental breakfast (it's unfair to call this an oxymoron; there's really
quite a bit there) from 5 A.M., usually consisting of cereals (raisin bran,
cheerios, flaky bran cereal, and oatmeal [must heat it up yourself]), small
buns and donuts with cream cheese, OJ sometimes, coffee, tea, and ...
that's about all.
ALTERNATIVE LODGING. Kiptopeke Inn is 2.5 mi. N of Sunset Beach Resort,
www.bwsunsetbeachresort.com, 757-331-1776 or 1-800-899-4SUN. Kiptopeke Inn
is 6.3 mi. S of Rittenhouse Motor Lodge, W side of Rt. 13, 757-331-2768, if
you stay ask for the "new" rooms, which are in back and bigger,
www.rittenhousemotorlodge.com, Lodgeon13 at yahoo dot com. Lovely
plantings, azaleas, camellias & big Loblolly Pines, if a bit musty.
The Cape Motel is closed ... just as well. Edgewood Motel and the Peacock
Motor Inn are probably not satisfactory for most of us. Depends on your
grunge tolerance.
EATING: Breakfast is at 6 A.M. and dinner at 5:30 P.M. at the Cape
Center/Sting-Ray's (a.k.a. Chez Exxon, the Stinger, or Chez Ray's) on Route
13 on the east side and 2.1 mi. N. of Kiptopeke Inn. Delicious scrapple.
Good broiled sea trout. Bring your own lunch.
COMPILATION: 7 P.M. sharp, either in my cozy room at Kiptopeke Inn, or in
the inn's dining area adjacent to the lobby (does not serve food yet but
they may let us sit at the tables). Otherwise my room has 2 beds, chairs,
plenty of room to sit, informal (to say the least).
AMPHIBIOUS FORCES: The boat fee is still $20 per head but, as has been the
case for years, is largely subsidized by the compiler. Boat reservations
are on a first come/first call basis. Dress warmly and dryly. Rubber knee
(or higher) boots are required and rain suits are desirable if it is windy.
We have NEVER been weathered out. The boat leaves from the Intracoastal
Waterway (Ramp Lane off the south end of Hallett Circle), locally known as
the Federal Cut, below Eastern Shore of Virginia N.W.R. The boat party,
captained by Albert Heath, spends most of the day walking the barrier
islands and sees large numbers of waterfowl, shorebirds, and marsh species
plus raptors. This year there may be a 2nd boat operated by Buddy Vaughan
that leaves from Oyster for Ship Shoal and Myrtle islands.
2. 2nd NASSAWADOX CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT: Sunday, December 16, 2007.
PARTY ASSIGNMENTS: contact me ahead of time. In a pinch contact me at the
Wachapreague count compilation dinner or at the motel. Note: Paul & Ann
Smith have already volunteered to do Upshur Neck.
HEADQUARTERS: Best Western Eastern Shore Inn, 2543 Lankford Highway,
Exmore, VA 23350 (E side of Rt. 13). 757-442-7378. 1-888-768-8313 (to
make reservations only). I will arrive here at c. 8 P.M., Dec. 15. Will
spend night of Dec. 16 there also. Can't tell you my room number; they
don't assign them ahead of time.
ALTERNATIVE BREAKFAST IN MOTELS. I find breakfast in a motel room just as
good for getting started as a lot of coffee, eggs, fat, grease &
cholesterol in a diner, plus it saves time, money, and travel. My motel
breakfast of choice consists of yogurt, doughnuts, orange juice, and a
banana ... and it sticks to the ribs.
COMPILATION: 5:15 SHARP. The Nature Conservancy, Brownsville, Nassawadox.
This is E of Nassawdox & Rt. 13 c. 1 mile at the end of Route 608 in TNC's
charming old house. Please where immaculate footwear or, even better,
leave it out front. Light refreshments. Will finish by 7, then if you
want to we can have a complete meal ... somewhere.
FACILITIES, esp. EATING (with opening time day of count; on Rt. 13 unless
noted otherwise). There's no central meeting place for breakfast:
At Exmore:
Exmore Diner (off Rt. 13, S side of town) 6-12 Sunday; otherwise 5-8)
McDonalds 6
Hardee's 6
Burger King 6:30
Taco Bell/KFC 10:00
Wendy's 6
El Maguey, a good Latino restaurant: Mon.-Sat. 11-9; Sun. Noon-8.
Trawler 11
Best Western (guests only): continental breakfast 6:30
There's also convenience stores such as Royal Farms et al. and a Food Lion
At Nassawadox:
BEST VALUE INN
Captain's Deck 6 (adjacent to Best Value Inn)
Great Machipongo Clam Shack 9 (www.greatclams.com)
Little Italy closed Sundays, otherwise 11-8 Tue.-Thu., 11-9 Fri. & Sat.
At Wilis Wharf: Stella's (closed Sundays).
AREA DESCRIPTION (listed from N to S; request map from me; I'll send by
snail mail). Whenever possible it is good for the count if you cover the
same territory as last year. But if you don't want to I'll gladly
accommodate your request to be elsewhere:
TOWNS : Exmore, Willis Wharf, Nassawadox, Franktown, Weirwood,
Marionville, Birdsnest, Treherneville, and Machipongo.
ISLANDS: Hog & Rogue and parts of Cobb, Revel, and Parramore.
MARSH AREAS, BAYS, TUMPS and small, unincorporated RESIDENTIAL AREAS:
Upshur Neck, Sandy Island, Hog Island Bay, High Shoal Marsh, Red Bank,
Brick House Neck, Fowling Point, Short Prong Marsh, Crabbing Marsh, Gull
Marsh, High Shoal Marsh, Parchaby Tump, Gull Marsh, Oyster Bay, Spider Crab
Bay, and Webb's Island.
NURSERIES: Maplewood Gardens (E of Rt. 13) and Tankard Nursery (W of Rt.
13 just S of Exmore).
Almost all of this is E of Rt. 13. Route 600, E of Rt. 13, has 13.4 miles
within the count circle. W of Route 13 there is a 9.4 mi. stretch of
highway, almost all of it Rt. 618. Essentially none of Chesapeake Bay is
included except for tiny sections in the very upper reaches of Church and
Warehouse creeks.
3. VERY IMPORTANT: Please check on your party assignments at the motel on
count eve (if you don't already know them) even if you get there late, or
else phone me. Do NOT wait until breakfast. BE EXTRA CONSIDERATE OF
LANDOWNERS: ALWAYS KNOCK AND ASK PERMISSION. All count participants must,
alas, pay the $5 participation fee to subsidize processing & posting of the
Christmas counts. Participants and many others will receive a
heavily-annotated copy of the 2 counts' results. These will also be posted
on VA-BIRD, and, of course, at www dot audubon dot org. I will be
participating in the counts asterisked (*) below.
4. CELL PHONES. Would be good to have cell phone numbers, esp. for those
on boats & islands, or if a rarity is discovered. Send me yours if you
haven't already or if you even want to & I can distribute the resulting
list to interested parties.
5. COASTAL COUNT SCHEDULE, selected counts. Since some LISTSERVs mask
e-mail addresses these are spelled out here.
Sat., Dec. 15 Wachapreague, VA*. Paul & Ann Smith, 24399 Nancock Gardens
Rd., Onancock, VA 23417. smith24399 at verizon dot net.
SUN., DEC. 16, NASSAWADOX, VA*, himself.
Wed., Dec. 19, Dismal Swamp N.W.R., VA. Tom Gwynn, 1640 Morris Ave.,
Norfolk, VA 23509. tbgwynn at cox dot net 757-627-1056 home. vacanebrake
at yahoo dot com (Don Schwab).
Thu., Dec. 27 Cape Hatteras, NC*. Pat Moore, P.O. Box 944, Buxton, NC
27920-0944. 252-995-4777. topatneal at aol dot com
Fri., Dec. 28 Bodie-Pea I. N.W.R., NC*. Paul Sykes, 1080 Forest Road,
Watkinsville, GA 30677. 706-769-9436 home; 706-542-1237 work. paul_sykes
at usgs dot gov.
Sat., Dec. 29 Back Bay N.W.R.*. Paul Sykes. Chincoteague N.W.R., VA.
Richard Roberts, 7212 Fiddler Bay Lane, Chincoteague, VA 23336.
757-336-1799. bandbird at verizon dot net
SUN., DEC. 30-CAPE CHARLES*, lui meme.
Mon., Dec. 31 Little Creek, VA. Paul Sykes.
Wed., Jan. 2 Nansemond River, Les Willis, P. O. Box 6063, Suffolk, VA
23433. 757-484- 4484. leswillis at clwillis dot com.
Selected Maryland Eastern Shore counts:
Sun., Dec. 16 St. Michaels, MD. Bill Novak, 6021 Hopkins Neck Rd.,
Easton, MD 21601. 410-822-2432. wnovak at bluecrab dot org
Wed., Dec. 26. S. Dorchester Co., MD (Blackwater N.W.R.). Chan Robbins,
7902 Brooklyn Bridge Rd., Laurel, MD 20707-2822. 301-497-5641 W.
chan_robbins at usgs dot gov
Thu., Dec. 27. Crisfield, MD. Charlie Vaughn, 1306 Frederick Ave.,
Salisbury, MD 21801-6816. 410-742-7221. essc at comcast dot net
Fri., Dec. 28. Ocean City, MD. Jay Sheppard, 3359 Cranberry South,
Laurel, MD 20724-2419. 301-725-5559 H. jmsheppar at aol dot com
Best to all. Merry Christmas counts, Happy Hollandaise. Henry ("Harry")
T. Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119-1225.
215-248-4120. harryarmistead at hotmail dot com
