Pass Price $30.00/Attendee
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Captain Rick Kellam grew up exploring the backwaters and barrier islands on the Eastern Shore. Join Rick in his 24-foot boat and discover the hidden treasures and wildlife found around the barrier islands and in the pristine marshes. The 2.5-hour trip has a capacity of 6 and leaves from Wachapreague outside the Island House Restaurant. The fee is $50 per person. A 1-hour personal vehicle trip 50 miles north from of the Festival grounds is required.
In the last 30 years, over a quarter million birds have been banded at Kiptopeke State Park in order to increase our understanding of these migrants and their travels. This program begins at the Birding Staging Shelter and involves a short walk on a level grass trail. A volunteer from the Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory will take you on a tour of the banding facility and you will see a demonstration of the banding procedure. The 1-hour programs have a 30-person capacity. A 15-minute personal vehicle trip 10 miles south of the Festival grounds is required.
Explore the peninsula’s tip from the pine forest on the refuge to the beach near the Bridge-Tunnel. Wise Point is the area where many migrating neotropical species and monarch butterflies stop and refuel before crossing the Bay or flying to Central or South America. The 2-hour program has a 15-person capacity. A 16 minute personal vehicle trip south of the Festival grounds is required
Glebe Farm, owned by Jack Wescoat, is a 900-acre bayside farm. This tour begins at a 25-acre old growth pine forest with a diverse understory and follows a natural trail to a sheltered riparian habitat of mixed bottomland hardwoods. Participants will travel past an inactive eagle’s nest to a site where tidal mud flats, freshwater pond habitats and the Chesapeake Bay can be viewed. The 3-hour programs have a 20-person capacity. A 30- minute personal vehicle trip 20 miles from the Festival grounds is required.
Eyre Hall, a Bayside tract of over 600 acres on Cherrystone Creek, has impressive habitat diversity. You will see open fields, mature forests, freshwater marshes and ponds, tidal mud flats, open saltwater and beaches. Eyre Hall was built in 1760 by the 5 times great-grandfather of the present owners on land he acquired in 1750. Birders are invited to tour the garden on their own after the hike. The garden is open daily free of charge. The 3-hour program has a 20-person capacity. A 20-minute personal vehicle trip 12 miles north of the Festival grounds is required.
Bring your camera and binoculars and join us for a 3-hour birding adventure on this extraordinary barrier island. Program capacity is 25. Board the bus from the festival grounds. Important: Registration for this event will not be considered complete until CBBT Security Form has been completed and mailed to ESVAF Inc., P.O. Box 102, Cape Charles, VA 23310 or faxed to (651) 331-4882.
This 286-acre preserve encompasses woodlands, forested wetlands and extensive salt marshes. These communities provide habitat for a variety of coastal species. Waterfowl, shorebirds and wading birds forage in the salt marsh for mussel, snails, fish and crustaceans. Diamondback terrapins and clapper rails are common on the mud flats. The woodlands provide excellent resting and foraging habitat for migratory songbirds. Warblers, orioles and other migratory songbirds utilize the abundance of trees and shrubs to rest and replenish energy reserves before crossing the Chesapeake Bay.
This Natural Area Preserve has one mile of Chesapeake Bay shoreline and the best developed and highest Holocene Dune on the Eastern Shore. It has seven wetland types and several rare species, including the northeastern beach tiger beetle. Join our guide on this 3-hour hike through a maritime forest and dune shrub habitat that provide food and resting habitat for migratory birds. Program capacity is 20. This trip requires a 30 minute personal vehicle trip 12 miles north from the festival grounds.
Enjoy an exclusive opportunity to explore Bay Creek Resort. This private community and resort is situated on over 1,700 acres in historic Cape Charles. Explore beaches, dunes, tidal creeks and wetlands in addition to mixed woodlands. This trip will offer great views of Brown-headed Nuthatches and Red-headed Woodpeckers with a chance to see Grasshopper Sparrows. Bay Creek offers considerable opportunities to plan your next Eastern Shore Vacation. The resort features two signature courses, designed by legends Jack Nicklaus & Arnold Palmer, as well as a marina, shops and restaurants. This 3-hour trip has a 12-person capacity. Meet your guides at the Coach House Grill at Bay Creek. Drop into the Coach House for breakfast before your trip or a tasty lunch after!
Barbara and Phil Custis, owners and operators of this 100-acre farm, have gardens with thirty species of plants that are a working example of a butterfly’s paradise. The hike crosses bridges spanning a freshwater stream that cuts through a pine and hardwood forest and leads to a large woodland pond. Ferns carpet the pine-needled floor as the trail follows the stream and wildlife darts for cover around dogwood, holly, and fallen trees. The 3-hour program has a 20-person capacity. A 30-minute personal vehicle trip 25 miles north from the Festival grounds is required.
Visit the islands created by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel Authority. These can be hotspots for pelagic and other birds not generally seen from land. The 3-hour programs have a 30-person capacity. Board the bus from the festival grounds. Important: Registration for this event will not be considered complete until CBBT Security Form has been completed and mailed to ESVAF Inc., P.O. Box 102, Cape Charles, VA 23310 or faxed to (651) 331-4882.
Are you the adventurous type? Join Capt. Buddy Vaughan for a boat tour of Cobb Bay and the surrounding marshes where you will be sure to see numerous shorebirds such as American Oystercatchers, Marbled Godwits, Whimbrels, various sandpipers, and many other species on their high tide roosts. You also will get a glimpse of several nearby barrier island inlet beaches where you may encounter roosting flocks of Royal and Caspian Terns. If the birds are acting skittish, look up and you may see a Peregrine Falcon overhead. Be sure to bring a snack, a drink, sunscreen and a couple of layers of clothing just in case the wind picks up. This three-hour trip, at $75 per person, leaves Oyster harbor and has a 5-person capacity. A 10-minute personal vehicle trip 5 miles east of the Festival grounds is required.
Identification Basics will help you become a better birder. The 45-minute workshop will be held at SAINT CHARLES CATHOLIC CHURCH FELLOWSHIP HALL located on Tazewell Avenue at Nectarine Street in Cape Charles. – Following the workshop head out in the field to sharpen your skills at Brennan Farm (participants will need personal vehicles to Brennan Farm)
Raptors, such as eagles, hawks and falcons, migrate down the Eastern Shore in great numbers. Since 1977, over 500,000 raptors have been recorded flying over Kiptopeke State Park. Join volunteers at Kiptopeke’s Birding Staging Shelter (wheelchair accessible) for a close-up visit with a newly banded raptor. The 1-hour program has a 30-person capacity. A 15-minute personal vehicle trip 10 miles south of the Festival grounds is required.
What’s happening under the sea? Some birds and other wildlife are highly dependent on underwater habitats such as seagrass beds and oyster reefs. The seaside of Virginia’s Eastern Shore used to contain miles of these habitats until hurricanes, diseases and overharvesting nearly wiped them out in the 1930s. But they are coming back! The seaside has been the focus of the Virginia CZM Program’s $6 million investment in a multi-partner Seaside Heritage Program to restore a variety of habitats and support ecotourism and shellfish farming. In fact, this area is the site of the world’s largest and most successful seagrass restoration. Join your guides on a boat trip leaving from the Village of Oyster boat ramp for a 2.5-hour cruise through the barrier island lagoon system near Wreck Island. If the weather is warm, bring a mask and snorkel – you might see a seahorse! Tour departs from Oyster Harbor and has an 15-person capacity. There is no fee for this trip. A 10-minute personal vehicle trip 5 miles east of the Festival grounds is required.
Join experts in odonates as they discuss the natural history and identification of these winged jewels. This 3 hour workshop has a 20 person capacity and includes a field trip to see the dragonflies of the Eastern Shore. This workshop will be held at SAINT CHARLES CATHOLIC CHURCH FELLOWSHIP HALL located on Tazewell Avenue at Nectarine Street in Cape Charles. The field portion will require a personal vehicle trip (locations TBA)
This wonderful trip has been featured in Southern Living, the Washington Post, and dozens of other publications around the country. All these stories tell one message – “Don’t miss this trip!” And these writers aren't even birders, so they may not have realized how wonderful it is to paddle beneath a Great Blue Heron rookery, or see an Osprey snatch a fish from the creek. With this trip you get to see a variety of habitat, and toast your good fortune as well. This is a wonderful trip for paddlers of all skill levels.
Meet at the Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR Visitor Center and experience the other migration that is in progress. Monarchs and 60 other species of butterflies and skippers might be seen along the Refuge trails on this colorful walk. The 1-hour program has a 20-person capacity. A 16-minute personal vehicle trip south of the Festival grounds is required.
This site has a variety of habitats that host many migratory songbirds as well as butterflies, dragonflies and amphibians. With boardwalks and trails that traverse meadow habitat, maritime forest and a freshwater marsh and pond, this trip will provide for great diversity. The trail culminates with an overlook of the Chesapeake Bay. This 2-hour trip has a 20-person capacity and requires a 4 minute personal vehicle trip.
This beautiful tract of land is located on Hungars Creek. The freshwater ponds, field and edge habitats and waterfront access provide an opportunity to view a variety of species. The 3-hour activity has a 25-person capacity. Board the bus from the festival grounds.
This beautiful 500-acre Bayside farm on Jacobus Creek has a diverse habitat of open fields, mature forests, freshwater ponds and marsh and tidal mudflats. The 3-hour program has a 25-person capacity. A 20 minute personal vehicle trip north of the Festival grounds is required.
Join a local expert on Saturday at 3:30 pm for a 1.5-hour walking tour of historic Cape Charles with its Chesapeake Bay beach habitat and beautiful Victorian homes.
Get a whole new perspective on the marsh from a stand up paddleboard. These stable, fun boards are the coolest craft on the water, and they make an awesome platform for birding. By providing you with a taller point of view, Stand Up Paddleboarding allows you see what’s around the next bend or in the next creek over before the birds even know you’re there. This is a perfect trip for beginners, but more advanced paddlers will love the unique paddling area.
This outing is a good opportunity to experience nocturnal wildlife activity. This 2-hour activity has a 20-person capacity. The Refuge is a 16-minute personal vehicle trip south of the Festival grounds and the group will meet at the Visitor Center.
This outing is a good opportunity to experience nocturnal wildlife activity. This 2-hour activity has a 20-person capacity.The Refuge is a 16-minute personal vehicle trip south of the Festival grounds and the group will meet at the Visitor Center
This outing is a good opportunity to experience nocturnal wildlife activity. This 2-hour activity has a 20-person capacity. Kiptopeke State Park is a 15-minute personal vehicle trip 10 miles south of the Festival grounds.
