Please pardon the OT Virginia material, but since Cape Charles may not conflict with any MD counts I can't resist my compulsion to recruit. Nassawadox is a different story but I've already lost 4-5 good people who have bailed for Salisbury. Besides, several MD Eastern Shore counts ARE listed with details at the end (but, beware, definitely check with the indicated compilers of those for the final word). Best regards to all. - Harry Armistead.
2009 CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS sponsored by Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory:
NASSAWADOX, Virginia, Sunday, December 20.
CAPE CHARLES, Virginia, Wednesday, December 30.
You are invited to participate. PLEASE let me know if you can (or can’t) & who is going to be with you. All are welcome.
December 5, 2009.
Henry (“Harry”) T. Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119-1225. 215-248-4120 PA; 410-745-2764 MD (most weekends); 215-913-4785 cell; harryarmistead at hotmail dot com
CONTACTING ME AT MOTELS, if you need to. I’ll leave a big sign on my windshield with my room number. Blue TrailBlazer, PA tags OSPREY.
1. 45th CAPE CHARLES C.B.C., Wednesday, December 30.
RESERVATIONS: Make A.S.A.P. in case there is a December stampede of striped bass (rock or rockfish) anglers.
HEADQUARTERS: KIPTOPEKE INN (formerly Day’s Inn; 757-331-1000) on the W. side of Rt. 13, it is 6.3 miles S. of the light that is at the turnoff of Rt. 13 to the town of Cape Charles and 0.3 mi. N. of the entrance to Kiptopeke State Park (Rt. 704) on the W. side of Rt. 13. Just S. of the aforementioned light is a Food Lion and McDonald’s. I will arrive at Kiptopke Inn c. 8 P.M., Dec. 29 and will be ensconced in splendor. Party assignments, maps, Jim Beam, and their/its ilk will be dispensed on count eve.
ALTERNATIVE LODGING. Kiptopeke Inn is 2.5 mi. N. of Sunset Beach Resort, www.bwsunsetbeachresort.com, 757-331-1776 or 1-800-899-4SUN. Kiptopeke Inn is 6.3 S. of Rittenhouse Motor Lodge, W. side of Rt. 13, 757-331-2768; if you stay ask for the “new” rooms, which are in back and bigger, www.rittenhousemotorlodge.com, lodgeon13 at yahoo dot com. Lovely plantings, azaleas, camellias & big Loblolly Pines, if a bit musty. The Cape Motel is closed … just as well. Edgewood Motel is not satisfactory for most of us … depends on one’s grunge tolerance. The Peacock has reopened … but I didn’t have the courage to check it out this fall (avert eyes?).
EATING: Breakfast is at 6 A.M. and dinner at 5:30 P.M. at the Cape Center/Sting-Ray’s (a.k.a. Chez Exxon, the Stinger, or Chez Ray’s) on Rt. 13 on the E. side and 2.1 mi. N. of Kiptopeke Inn. Delicious scrapple. Good broiled seafood, crabs. Bring your own lunch.
COMPILATION. 7 p.m. sharp, either in my cozy room at Kiptopeke Inn, or in the inn’s dining area adjacent to the lobby (does not serve food but they may let us sit at the tables). Otherwise my room has 2 beds, chairs, plenty of room to sit, informal (to say the least).
AMPHIBIOUS FORCES. The boat fee is raised $5 to $25 but, as has been the case for years, is largely subsidized by the compiler. Boat reservations are on a first come/first call basis. Dress warmly and dryly. Rubber knee boots (or higher) are required and rain suits are desirable if it is windy. We have NEVER been weathered out. The boat leaves from the Intracoastal Waterway (Ramp Lane off the S. end of Hallett Circle) at 7:30 A.M., locally known as the “Federal Cut,” at the S. end of Eastern Shore of VA N.W.R. Captained by Buddy Vaughn, the boat party spends most of the day WALKING the barrier islands, sees large numbers of waterfowl, shorebirds, & marsh species plus raptors.
2. 4th NASSAWADOX C.B.C., Sunday, December 20.
PARTY ASSIGNMENTS. Please contact me ahead of time. In a pinch contact me at the Wachapreague C.B.C. compilation or at the motel. But I prefer to mail you maps, checklists, etc., ahead of time. Paul & Ann Smith have again volunteered to cover Upshur Neck (bless them). Whenever possible it’s good for the count if you cover the same territory as last year, but if you don’t want to I’ll try to accommodate requests for other areas.
HEADQUARTERS. Best Western Eastern Shore Inn, 2543 Lankford Highway, Exmore, VA 23350 (E. side of Rt. 13, N. end of town). 757-442-7378. 1-888-768-8313 (to make reservations only). I will arrive here c. 8 P.M., Dec. 20 & will spend the night of Dec. 21 there also.
ALTERNATIVE BREAKFAST IN MOTELS. I find breakfast in a motel room just as good for getting started as a lot of coffee, eggs, fat, grease & cholesterol in a diner, plus it saves time, money, travel, and gas. My motel breakfast of choice consists of yogurt, doughnuts, orange juice, and a banana … and it sticks to the ribs.
COMPILATION. (this is still tentative) 5:15 P.M. sharp. At The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) Brownsville, Nassawadox. This is E. of Rt. 13 c. 1 mile at the end of Rt. 608 in TNC’s charming old house. Please wear immaculate footwear or, even better, leave it out front. Light refreshments. Will finish by 7, then if you want we can have a complete meal somewhere in Exmore, but in previous years the refreshments have more than filled the bill. TNC has never even hinted that it is necessary but in view of their outstanding hospitality in other years a nice donation seems appropriate to me; if you want to, give such to me & I’ll forward it with due acknowledgement.
FACILITIES, esp. eating (with opening times, caveat, as determined in 2007) on Rt. 13 unless otherwise noted. There’s no central meeting place for breakfast.
At Exmore: Exmore Diner (off Rt. 13, S. side of town on Rt. 13 business, 6-12 Sunday, otherwise 5-8. McDonald’s 6. Hardee’s 6. Burger King 6:30. Taco Bell/KFC 10:00. Wendy’s 6. El Maguey, a good Latino restaurant, open Mon.-Sat. 11-9, Sun. noon-8. the Trawler 11. Best Western (guests only), continental breakfast 6:30. There’s also convenience stores such as Royal Farms et al. and a Food Lion (supermarket).
At Nassawadox: Best Value Inn. Captain’s Deck 6 (adjacent to Best Value Inn). Great Machipongo Clam Shack 9 (www.greatclams.com). Little Italy (closed Sundays, otherwise 11-8 Tue.-Thu., 11-9 Fri. & Sat.
At Willis Wharf: Stella’s (closed; defunct?).
AREA DESCRIPTION (listed from N. to S.; I’ll send maps via surface mail on request):
TOWNS: Exmore, Willis Wharf, Nassawadox, Franktown, Weirwood, Marionville, Birdsnest, Treherneville, and Machipongo.
ISLANDS: Hog & Rogue and parts of Cobb, Revel, and Parramore.
MARSH AREAS, BAYS, TUMPS, and small, unincorporated residential areas: Upshur Neck, Sandy Island, Hog Island Bay, High Shoal Marsh, Red Bank, Brick House Neck, Fowling Point, Short Prong Marsh, Crabbing Marsh, Gull Marsh, Parchaby Tump, Oyster Bay, Spider Crab Bay, and Webb’s Island.
NURSERIES: Maplewood Gardens (E. of Rt. 3) and Tankard Nursery (W. of Rt. 13 and just S. of Exmore).
Almost all of this is E. of Rt. 13. Route 600, E. of Rt. 13, has 13.4 miles within the count circle. West of Rt. 13 there is a 9.4 mile north-south stretch of highway, almost all of it Rt. 618. Essentially none of Chesapeake Bay is included except for tiny sections of the very upper reaches of Church and Warehouse creeks.
3. VERY IMPORTANT. Check on your party assignments at the motel on count eve if you don’t already know them. BE EXTRA considerate of landowners: always knock and ask permission. All count participants must pay the $5 participation fee to subsidize processing and posting of the C.B.C.s for the excellent National Audubon Society website www.audubon.org. Participants and many others will receive my heavily-annotated copy of the 2 counts’ results. These will also be posted on VA-BIRD and the bird lists will appear at www.audubon.org Those paying the $5 fee will receive (next fall) a printed copy of American birds from Audubon summarizing the continentalwide results, always a source of fascination.
4. COASTAL COUNT SCHEDULE, selected counts. Since some listserves mask e-mail addresses they’re spelled out here. . I’ll be participating in the counts asterisked (*) below. Always check with the compilers of other CBCs as the information below may change:
Wed., Dec. 16, Dismal Swamp N.W.R., VA. Tom Gwynn, 1640 Morris Ave., Norfolk, VA 23509. tbgwynn at cox dot net. 757-627-1056 home. vacanebrake at yahoo dot com (Don Schwab).
Sat., Dec. 19, Wachapreague, VA*. Irv Ailes, 31050 Liberty Court, Hallwood, VA 23359-2142. 757-824-0608 h; 757-990-0998 cell. irvailes at verizon dot net
Sun., Dec. 20. NASSAWADOX, VA*.
Sun., Dec. 27, Cape Hatteras,NC*. Pat Moore, P. O. Box 944, Buxton, NC 27920-0944. 252-995-4777. topatneal at aol dot com.
Mon. Dec. 28, Bodie-Pea I. N.W.R.*, NC. Paul Sykes, 1080 Forest Road, Watkinsville, GA 30677. 706-769-9436 h. jjsykes at charter dot net
Tue., Dec. 29, Back Bay N.W.R.*, VA. Paul Sykes. Chincoteague N.W.R. Richard Roberts, 7212 Fiddler Bay Lane, Chincoteague, VA 23336. 757-336-1799. bandbird at verizon dot net.
Wed., Dec. 30, CAPE CHARLES, VA*.
Thu., Dec. 31, Little Creek, VA. Paul Sykes.
Sat., Jan. 2, Nansemond River, VA. Bob Ake, 6603 Catherine St., Norfolk, VA 23505-4301. 757-489-2903. akeneff at earthlink dot net
Selected Maryland Eastern Shore counts (double check these details with the compiler for these and Chincoteague; I was not involved in trying to set up a schedule for these counts):
Sun., Dec. 20, Salisbury. Sam Dyke, P. O. Box 1212, Salisbury, MD 21802-1212. 410-742-5497 h; 410-603-7615 cell. ward at wardmuseum dot org.
Sun., Dec. 20, St. Michaels. Wayne Bell. wayne dot bell at washcoll dot edu
Sat, Dec. 26, S. Dorchester County (Blackwater N.W.R.). Chan Robbins, 7902 Brooklyn Bridge Rd., Laurel, MD 20707-2822. 301-497-5641 w. chan_robbins at usgs dot gov. Sun, Dec. 27, Crisfield. Paul Bystrak. 410-572-9950; 443-783-1268 m. shrike at intercom dot net.
Mon., Dec. 28, Ocean City. Jay Sheppard, 3359 Cranberry South, Laurel, MD 20724-2419. 301-725-5559 w. jmsheppar at aol dot com
Best to all. Merry Christmas counts, happy hollandaise. Henry (“Harry”) T. Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119-1225. 215-248-4120. harryarmistead at hotmail dot com
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