There are a limited number of spaces available for this trip!
PLEASE NOTE: DATE & SPECIAL TOUR INFORMATION CHANGE
Virginia Beach, CBBT Islands, and Eastern Shore NWR
Friday, January 28, through Sunday, January 30
Scout Virginia Beach and the CBBT Islands with Ray Smith and Fred Bogar
for interesting winter birds, including Eiders, Scoters, Longtail Ducks,
Harlequin Ducks, Gannets, Purple Sandpipers, Great Cormorants, Snow
Buntings, and other far north nesters. Hear a fascinating description of
new research using NASA radar to track bird migration.
Details: We will meet Friday evening in Virginia Beach at the Howard
Johnson hotel and enjoy dinner together at a local restaurant. On
Saturday we will meet in the hotel lobby at 7:00 AM to form car pools
travel to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnels. (To drive this leg of the
trip you must obtain in advance a pass to bird the CBBT islands.
Information is provided below on how to do that.) We will bird the
tunnel islands and then move on to the Eastern Shore NWR, Kiptopeke
State Park, and the area near town of Oyster. We will stop at Stingray's
for lunch. The trip will end around 4 PM.
We will have dinner together near the hotel and at 7:00 PM, there will
be a lecture and slide show in the hotel conference room given by the
Center for Conservation Biology of William and Mary. This lecture on
coastal migration will include the results of several research projects,
including the NASA radar study at the Nature Conservancy property in
Brownsville, the Colonial Breeding Bird Surveys, and the bird banding
project at Kiptopeke.
We have been very lucky in arranging a private tram tour for 24 people
on the morning of Sunday, January 30th, at the ponds of the Back Bay
National Wildlife Refuge. (There is a $9.00 charge per person for the
tram tour.)
This refuge was created in 1938 by Presidential decree and has no
hunting and almost no public access to their pond system, even by foot.
The tour will be led by the Refuge Biologist. Back Bay NWR is over 8000
acres and managed primarily for migratory birds, particularly wintering
waterfowl, migratory shorebirds and wading birds. The Refuge is situated
on a thin strip of coastline typical of the barrier islands found along
much of America's Atlantic and Gulf coats. It is in the southeastern
corner of Virginia between the Atlantic Ocean and Back Bay. The habitats
include beach, dune, shrub land, wooded swamp, low-lying agricultural
fields, and marsh environments and offer great opportunities for birding
most of which is very seldom seen by the public.
The trip will conclude at Craney Island, where we will bird the rest of
the day.
Pre-Trip Warm-Up: For those who want a little longer trip, we will meet
at noon on Friday at the Wawa's on the southeast corner of Rt. 95 and
Rt. 3 in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and bird Washington's birth place and
some of the ponds on the way down to Virginia Beach. Ducks are great at
this time of the year in these ponds.
Hotel: Howard Johnson, 1601 Atlantic Avenue, Virginia Beach, VA 23451.
Room rates $45 per night plus tax. Some rooms are ocean front. All rooms
have refrigerators, microwaves, and coffee makers. The hotel has an
indoor pool and a free covered parking garage. Phone numbers for
reservations: 800-258-1878, 757-437-9100. PLEASE NOTE TO OBTAIN SPECIAL
ROOM RATE YOU MUST MENTION YOU ARE WITH ASNV.
CBBT Permit information: To obtain permits, write or phone:
Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnels-Dept. 001
P.O. Box 111
Cape Charles, VA 23310-0111
757-331-2960
757-331-4565 FAX
Directions: To reach the hotel, take I-64 to I-264 East to Virginia
Beach. Take I-264 to Atlantic Avenue and turn right. The hotel is on the
ocean side at 1601 Atlantic Avenue.
Limit: 20 people. Sign up with Laura at the ASNV office.
Laura Stephens
Office Administrator
Fairfax Audubon Society
www.fairfaxaudubon.org
703-256-6895
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