Sorry for the late post....didn't get home until late and was tired last
night. We went to Chincoteague for the day Sunday. I wanted to get
some Brandts...a bird I had not seen before. I had a great day and got
two 'lifers'...Brandts and Horned Grebes.
The tide was super high when we got there around 10:30. We pulled off
on the causeway in and saw Brandts in the reeds. There were quite a
few, but it was cloudy and dark. I was happy to see them and we
continued on. Shirley was there and texted me to tell me the ponies
were up on the road. We got there and there were 5 ponies up on the
road....and people right on top of them. I guess people don't
understand that these are 'wild' ponies. We went on down to the beach
now that the road has been repaired to allow car traffic. The first
parking area on the south side is the only thing open and they did have
the off road open as well. There is a bunch of debris up on the
beach....we drove on the beach all the way down to the hook. Once we
rounded the corner, it was like the Atlantic Ocean had emptied all of
it's conch shells onto the beach. They were everywhere. There were
gulls feeding on them and a few shorebirds as well (sanderlings,
turnstones, and a couple yet to be ID'd). There were also some loons off
the beach. We walked around the area surveying the contents. Someone
had propped up a log and had three pairs of sunglasses put on there. We
picked up about 30 more pair. It was like every pair of glasses ever
lost had been washed up there. We found bathing suits, umbrellas, toy
boats and cars, rope, and quite a bit of trash.
We headed back and got to watch a large Bald Eagle on the sound side as
well as a large flock of Snow Geese (probably around 200), but these
were the only ones we saw on the day.
We ate lunch and then stopped at the new walkway near the McD's looking
for rails. No such luck. I think the tide was still too high for
them. We went back onto the reserve and did the wildlife loop. Another
large Bald Eagle was near the old nesting site and it looks like they
have started another nest in the tallest tree left on that island.
There were Shovelers, Mallards, Black Ducks, and such around the
wildlife loop. No snow geese that I saw.
We went back down toward the beach and I got some pics of the Horned
Grebes and some Ruddy Ducks near the visitor center...and an yet to be
ID'd duck...I will post pics later.
As we headed home, we came across another group of Brandts in the
channel after the circle and I got some nice pics with the setting sun.
A good day on the eastern shore.
Barbara Houston
New Kent, VA
