This was the first day of our two-day visit to Chincoteague NWR. We birded in six areas of the refuge and identified 56 species on the day. The first area was along Beach Road. We saw 28 species along both sides of the road including white ibis, glossy ibis, tricolored heron, snowy egret, little blue heron, cattle egret, great egret, laughing gull, Forster’s tern, great blue heron, and osprey. Our next stop was in the area of Tom’s Cove Visitor’s Center where some of the birds we identified were willet, Canada goose, American oystercatcher, least tern, common tern, glossy ibis, ring-billed gull, and mallard. We saw one common loon on Tom’s Cove on the Visitor’s Center side of the road near the causeway. By the main beach, we saw laughing gull, barn swallow, ring-billed gull, red-winged blackbird, royal tern, and double-crested cormorant. We went to Little Tom’s Cove next. An American oystercatcher was banded with the letters “NAN” on an orange background. Other birds seen here included ruddy turnstone, royal tern, Forster’s tern, and herring gull. At the dead end of the road, we walked to the cove and also saw one piping plover, great black-backed gull, and brown pelican. The fifth area was from the Wildlife Loop parking lot to the causeway to Chincoteague Island. Birds we identified here included Carolina wren, barn swallow, northern cardinal, turkey vulture, red-bellied woodpecker, Forster’s tern, and house sparrow. Our last trip was along Wildlife Loop where we identified glossy ibis, green heron, blue-winged teal (2 or 3), orchard oriole, eastern meadowlark, indigo bunting, common yellowthroat, yellow warbler, house wren, semipalmated sandpiper, and short-billed dowitcher.
MY PHOTOS: white ibis, glossy ibis, American oystercatcher, green heron, piping plover, Forster’s tern, great egret, snowy egret
