Road Trip Birding

Virginia

Red-breasted Merganser by Simon Thompson

Eastern Shore &

Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel

January 16-20, 2021

Red-throated Loon Photo by Simon Thompson

Your place on this Venture is reserved when your completed registration form and deposit of $500/person has been received. Deposit may be made via the ‘book now’ button above, or by contacting the Ventures office. We accept credit cards for an additional fee (2.9% for MC, Visa, Discover; 3.9% for AmEx), but you may also pay by bank transfer, cash, check, or money order (payable to ‘VENTURES BIRDING’) sent to PO Box 1095, Skyland, NC 28776. This Venture is limited to 8 participants.

Cost of Virginia Venture $1,345 per person based on double occupancy (Single supplement $295) Price includes: 4 night’s accommodation, breakfasts, lunches & dinners, entry fees, information packet & bird checklist, and guide/leader service throughout Not included: Alcoholic beverages, transportation, laundry and other items of a personal nature

This driving trip has been designed as part of our new “Road Trip America” series – where we independently drive to our destination, birding along the way. Usually leaving from Asheville, NC we will wend our way towards our destination hitting good local birding spots along the way. All participants will be given driving directions and a list of our potential stopping places, and aside from transportation, all accommodation, and food will be included in the trip price.

Come and join us on a short and sweet winter getaway to Virginia’s Eastern Shore and Chesapeake Bay area in search of waterfowl and other overwintering birds. So-called “Tidewater” Virginia is comprised of two parts: the wide, low coastal plain, cut by meandering rivers into long peninsulas, which forms the western shoreline of Chesapeake Bay; and the “Eastern Shore,” the Virginia portion of the Delmarva Peninsula (containing portions of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia), which forms the eastern shoreline of the Bay. Where the Coastal Plain meets the ocean there are barrier islands with wide beaches and sand dunes. Behind these lie salt and brackish marshes and shallow bays stuffed with wintering waterfowl and other water birds. Among the sites to be visited in the area are several National Wildlife Refuges (Eastern Shore and Chincoteague), State Parks (Kiptopeke) and of course, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

This is an excellent tour to see Common Goldeneye, Harlequin & Long-tailed Ducks, and plenty of others that are scarce to rare in winter in the NC Mountains. We have even managed to see Eurasian Wigeon plus Iceland, Glaucous, and even Black-tailed Gull here on past tours.

Some of the Birds We Hope to See

Common & Red-throated Loons, Northern Gannet, American Oystercatcher, Great Cormorant, Purple Sandpiper, Tundra & Mute Swans, Brant, Snow Goose, Harlequin Duck, Lesser & Greater Scaup, King & Common Eiders, Northern Pintail, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Long-tailed Duck, White-winged, Surf & Black Scoter, Red-breasted & Hooded Merganser Notables seen on recent trips have included: Black-tailed, Iceland, Glaucous & Little Gulls, Eurasian Wigeon, Northern Saw-whet Owl and American Woodcock.