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
