We parked our RV at Kiptopeke State Park, which offers full hookups including sewer. Unfortunately, while the place has wonderful hiking and walking trails, fishing pier, and boat access, the park is operated by staff (and probably management) with a poor attitude. The men's bath house was disgusting...
A feature of this park is the collection of sunken "hulks" or old WW-II ships, which form an underwater reef below the surface and a place for birds to nest and congregate above the surface. I was told by a fisherman that when I got to the pier just before sunset, that I had just missed the dolphins swimming up the Bay. For any future trips, we will probably stay at a commercial campground such as Cherrystone or go further north to the town of Chincoteague and stay at the Maddox Family Campground.
Our last birding was on the rest area and restaurant on the final southern piling of the Bay Bridge Tunnel as you go south--that is where we got to see pelicans flying majestically as well as a rare, solitary mandarin duck.
Common Loon
Black Vulture greeting me on my way to the fishing pier
Common Loon, another view
Red breasted Merganser
Osprey with some nesting materials; an eagle knocked a fish out of its talons earlier
Male red-breasted merganser
Male and female red-breasted mergansers
Female red-breasted merganser
Osprey at the nest
Sunset over the hulks at Kiptopeke State Park, Chesapeake Bay
Deeper sunset
Birds against the sky
Sea gull against the sky
In-bound ducks
Unusual Mandarin Duck, as seen from the rest area on the Bay Bridge Tunnel
Pelicans passing by the rest area
Pelicans departing the rest area
Finally, some plovers
Pelicans departing the rest area
Finally, some plovers
3 comments:
your sunset pics are fresh
Thank you! I stayed after the actual sunset to capture the colors!
Great shots. That 'Unusual Mandarin' is actually a Harlequin Duck. Nice find.
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