If there was ever a guy who could get you stoked about seeing a seagull, it’s Captain Rick Kellam.
“That’s a Lesser Black-Backed Gull, see the dark feathers? And that’s a Herring Gull next to it, see, it’s grayer,” Kellam explains, guiding our boat alongside pilings crowded with squabbling birds, his voice quickening with excitement as he points out differences in their size, plumage and bills. “Those ones there are Laughing Gulls, but you might know them by their more common name, McDonald’s gulls, ’cause you can always find them in the McDonald’s parking lot.”
Still, I hadn’t traveled all the way to Virginia’s Eastern Shore to look at a bunch of ordinary, French-fry-loving seagulls. It was late September, the migratory season was in full swing, and this long finger of land — stretching south from Maryland, with the Chesapeake Bay on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other — is known as one of the country’s top spots for bird-watching.
Why here? It’s simple. “Birds don’t like to cross over open water, and this peninsula is the last sliver of land they see as they head south,” says Brian Taber, president of the Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory. “They will stop here to rest, to eat.” That means millions of birds, and hundreds of avian species, will take a breather here during the fall migration, which lasts well into November.
As a beginning birder, with a clearly inferior set of binoculars and only a rudimentary grasp of bird types, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to locate or identify them. But mostly I was worried about being bored. From what I’d heard, bird-watching involved lots of patience, lots of waiting, then, just maybe, you’d catch a glimpse of feathers through the trees. Where, exactly, was the thrill in that?
But as we motored out deeper into the salt marshes, the Wachapreague Harbor (and its gulls) fading into the distance, birds started popping up everywhere — in the reeds, atop pilings, gliding overhead. “Twelve o’clock, there’s a Great Blue Heron! One-thirty, a Common Egret! Eleven o’clock, two Double-crested Cormorants!” Kellam hollered from behind the helm.
I trained my lenses on the egret first (called common, but quite an extraordinarily elegant, long-necked, white-plumed bird), before tracking left to the heron, an ungainly, almost prehistoric-looking thing that took off with a flap of its enormous wings when we got too close. By contrast, the cormorants, chilling out on a post, wings outstretched to dry in the sun, barely took notice of us as we glided by.
OK, I had to admit, being surrounded by all these winged creatures was pretty cool. In fact, birding is one of the country’s fastest growing activities, and one that is gaining appeal with a whole new, younger crowd — hey, it’s not just for white-haired retirees anymore! In part, that may be because there’s a greater awareness of environmental issues and conservation efforts, birds being a huge part of that equation.
Of course, anyone can walk outside and look at birds, but there is an art to it. “Birding is not just seeing, it’s also being able to identify,” says Kellam, an Eastern Shore native who has been leading eco-tours in this fragile Barrier Island habitat for more than three decades. “And identifying is also done by listening. If you can hear the bird, you know where it is at.”
And that was how we found the elusive Clapper Rail, by hearing it — a rapid succession of clacking noises — before startling the little gray bird from its resting place deep within the marsh grasses. “It’s also called a marsh hen,” explains Kellam. “And it’s the most requested bird that folks want to find.” (Why? “Because in Virginia it’s legally allowed to be hunted,” he says.)
Asked which bird I most wanted to see — to check off on what birders call their “life list” — I said a pelican. (Yes, I’ve seen many pelicans, but it was one of the few bird names I knew.) Almost as if to mock this plebian request, whole flocks of sexier birds materialized: Greater Yellowlegs (yup, they have yellow legs); Long-billed Curlews (yup, they have long, curved bills); Willets (with a distinctive “W” pattern on their backs); bright-red-billed American Oystercatchers. Even a shaggy-crested Belted Kingfisher and a handsome Green-backed Heron made an appearance.
There are lots of seabirds here, but raptors, too, stop on their way down south — like the pair of majestic, circling Golden Eagles (a rare sight); numerous hawk species; and a Peregrine Falcon couple hanging out in their specially made bird condo (since they live here year-round).
Kellam didn’t just show us how to identify birds, he also versed us on their nesting and mating habits, their meal choices and regaled us with tales about birds and birders, a quirky group if there ever was one. (Ask him about the flamingo; it’s a good story.)
As our three-plus-hour tour drew to a close, I was showing improvement on my bird-spotting skills — even picking out several Brown Pelicans gliding just above the water’s surface. My life list was just getting started, but I’d definitely made some serious strides.
Captain Rick Kellam, Broadwater Bay Ecotours, $90/person for half-day; $180/person for full-day; 757-442-4363; broadwaterbayecotour.com
FOUR MORE EAST COAST BIRDING HOT SPOTS
Outer Banks, NC
The Wings Over Water Wildlife Festival (Nov. 6 to 11) offers all different ways to see all different bird species, including a day-plus-long (4:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.) tour all around coastal North Carolina, from lakes to rivers to the ocean. Most are shorter trips: spotting songbirds and sparrows from the lighthouse in Corolla, rare woodpeckers at Palmetto-Peartree Preserve, owls during the Owl Prowl and even helping to band hummingbirds. Trips are led by birding experts, and most cost $20 to $25. All proceeds from this event go to the Coastal Wildlife Refuge Society. For a schedule and to register, visit wingsoverwater.org.
Virginia Beach, VA
First Landing State Park is great for beginning birders, thanks to very walkable, scenic trails through a maritime forest and an amazingly cool Bald Cyprus Swamp alongside a brackish bay. The diverse terrain means you’ll see songbirds — especially warblers and thrushes —woodpeckers, hawks, eagles, ospreys and shorebirds galore. And because it’s in a temperate zone, you get a great mix of northeast and southern bird species, which you can observe well into December; virginiastateparks.gov.
Cape May, NJ
At the Cape May Autumn Birding Festival (Oct. 26 to 28), each day is packed with birding adventures from morning to night, from field and boat trips to workshops to meet and greets with premier naturalists. Over the weekend you can expect to see plenty of shorebirds and land birds (including robins, sparrows and blackbirds), and the first loons will be appearing, too. Family-friendly activities to learn about birds will take place at the Convention Hall, where kids can see a live raptor show and get up close and personal with owls, hawks and eagles. For a schedule and to register, visit birdcapemay.org.
Alley Pond Park, Queens
This 635-acre park is within city limits, and you can see a variety of birds here year-round. Turtle Pond and the White Trail are favorites of birders; right now you can spot many species of warblers, wrens, Eastern Phoebes, American Redstarts and owls. There are free birding programs hosted throughout the fall, courtesy of the Urban Park Rangers. The next is scheduled for Oct. 20; nycgovparks.org.