Rob et. al.,
My apologies for the confusion caused by the signage. These signs were placed
to address other non-waterfowl hunting activity at these tracts. The wording of
the signs is overly general and does not specify that the area is open for
wildlife viewing on Sundays. We will address these signs early next week. In
the interim I will coordinate with DGIF law enforcement and clarify that
birding IS allowed on Sundays.
Ron you are correct that hunts on the Whitehurst and Beasly tracts occur only
on Saturdays. The area remains closed from Mon-Friday to allow an undisturbed
resting area for waterfowl during the week.
In regards to the water levels I am happy to report that we pumped extensively
through October and into November and the impoundments have been well flooded
since. We continue to monitor and will pump supplementally to maintain optimal
water levels. This system is managed in a moist-soil regime. This method of
impoundment management promotes a variety of beneficial native plants (such as
Walter's millet, smartweed and beggars ticks) that provide long lasting seeds
and promote good populations of invertebrates as a food source for waterfowl
and other wildlife. The flooded impoundments remain vegetated and may have the
appearance of not being flooded, but in reality have 12-16" of water. I can
attest to the water levels here - having walked the impoundments in knee boots
to assess the conditions when they were initially flooded and periodically
inspecting them since. The warm weather has resulted in relatively few
waterfowl using the area until recently when we began to see good numbers.
There have been good numbers of other waterbirds using the area including large
numbers of white ibis.
My apologies for any confusion related to the signs.
Steve
Stephen Living │Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries │Region 1 Land
& Facilities Manager│3801 John Tyler Memorial Hwy, Charles City VA
23030│stephen.living@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 2015 08:51:58 -0500
From: Rob Bielawski <robbielawski@xxxxxxxxx>
To: VA-Bird List <va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Va-bird] Virginia Beach - Princess Anne WMA Whitehurst Tract
Closed?
Message-ID:
<CAE1OWgDo0MqS=Lv5_-o1D+GtVwHyGGA6A0qFkqggKjGuGO1FHA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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Fellow Birders,
Yesterday after a nice trip to Back Bay NWR I headed over to my typical Sunday
spot, Princess Anne WMA Whitehurst Tract. From May through August the park is
open 7 days a week for wildlife viewing, and from September through April it is
closed Monday-Saturdays for hunting, open only on Sundays to birders (ref:
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wmas/detail.asp?pid=8
).
When I arrived at the park yesterday, a sign was placed at the first parking
area on Munden Road, reading "This Management area is CLOSED except for Quota
waterfowl hunts".
Researching a bit yesterday evening after I'd arrived home, I found this quota
hunt page (http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/hunting/quotahunts/) that shows the
hunts occurring only on Saturdays.
My primary question is, are there any individuals on this listserve who work
for VDGIF or the WMA's and might be able to verify that the sign was just left
up accidentally into Sunday? For those of us wishing to bird the area on
Sundays, just seeing the sign still posted is enough to make us leave, so if it
is placed in error, that is a bit frustrating to folks who are law-abiding.
My second question, have the impoundments now been flooded? Typically by
September there is full water for migrating waterfowl to land in, but as of two
weekends ago, the only water was still just rainfall that had collected in the
perimeter ditches surrounding each impoundment.
Any info would be welcome, thanks!
Rob Bielawski
Virginia Beach, VA
