Birding Chincoteague NWR

Looks like time got away from me and I am kind of rushing this post, sorry! My post is on this past weekend's visit to Chincoteague NWR located on the Virginia side of Assateague Island. It is one of my favorite wildlife refuges to visit. During previous visits and with the migration I am usually able to see amazing numbers of birds. The wildlife refuge is also famous for the Chincoteague ponies that can be seen running free on the island.

 Across the from the Tom's Cove visitor center we did see some great birds, above I was able to capture the Little Blue Heron, a Snowy Egret and a Tri-colored Heron together..a three-fer.

 I was kind of disappointed and sad this area of Virginia seems to be having a drought. The wildlife loop was mainly dry, a few mud puddles here and there.

While driving around the wildlife loop we could see there were areas where the ground looked dry and cracked. Not many birds to be found there except for a few herons and egrets. I am wondering if the usual thousands of Dunlins and other shorebirds we see here have moved on and found a new place to stop?

Back near Tom's Cove there were plenty of birds and water. I am always excited to see the Black Skimmers, they are cool looking birds with their distinctive red and black bill. Pictured above are the Skimmers, Willets, Forster's Terns, Marbled Godwits and possibly my lifer the Bar-tailed Godwit. In this photo, I believe my Godwit lifer is in the top right hand corner standing next to a few Willets.  The Bar-tailed has a two toned bill..pink with a dark edge. The female Bar-tailed Godwit was found in Chincoteague back on August 3rd. I was very happy and excited seeing the Bar-tailed Godwit it is a very cool lifer for me.

Above, the Marbled Godwit seems to have a longer bill pink with the dark tip.

Not the best shot, but another image of the Bar-tailed Godwit located on the far left of the photo. The Bar-tailed Godwit is a large wader which breeds on the Arctic coast. They are commonly found in Alaska where it breeds and than migrates to New Zealand and Australia. It's migration is the longest known non-stop flight of any bird.

We saw a lot of the Little Blue herons, both adults and the white juveniles. Some doing a dance or just being bossy.

Another one of my Chincoteague lifers is the Sandwich Tern.  On the left, this bird is easily id with the yellow tip on its black bill.

One of my favorite birds seen at the Chincoteague NWR, is the Brown-headed Nuthatch. During a walk on the woodland trail we saw and heard many of these cute nuthatches.


I hope you enjoyed birding with me at the Chincoteague NWR. If you are ever in the area I would highly suggest a visit. 

Happy Birding,
Eileen
http://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/