Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy

Here’s an excellent event for the whole family:

17th Annual Eastern Shore of Virginia Birding & Wildlife Festival
Sept. 17-20, 2009

Virginia’s Eastern Shore will wow birders and nature lovers, artists, and photographers. The barrier islands seaside and the creeks and “necks” bayside are an essential part of the Fall migration for millions of neotropical songbirds, raptors such as eagles, hawks, and falcons – and for some species of butterflies and dragonflies, oh my!  These travelers may forage on the islands or necks en route, but then must converge on and pause near Kiptopeke at the southern tip of the peninsula to continue fueling up for crossing the Bay.  And that’s where the Festival activity is concentrated.  Tucked between the broad waters of the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, this patchwork of farms, forests, ponds, marshes, and creeks provides an incredible opportunity to experience these winged wonders in the most tranquil and lovely of settings. 

Come to the Festival and boat out to Cobb Bay and its marshes to see the shorebirds – oystercatchers, godwits, whimbrels – see the roosting royal terns on the inlet beaches of barrier islands — or take a boat tour on the Machipongo River, or a kayak tour on Onancock Creek. Celebrate one of nature’s most amazing spectacles, and one that is increasingly threatened – 11 of the 96 neotropical songbird species are in trouble, most others are in decline. A boat with an experienced guide is the only way to discover the Eastern Shore’s chain of remote, uninhabited (by man) seaside islands. Climb aboard and observe eagles and peregrine falcons soaring above this United Nations-designated International Biosphere Reserve.   Or watch songbird banding at Kiptopeke.   So many choices!

Please visit  www.esvachamber.org/festivals/birding, for the program details and the registration and activities form, as capacities for some trips are quite limited!