Fisherman Island National Wildlife Refuge

Rae Spencer10 Comments

Fisherman Island National Wildlife Refuge is located off the southern tip of Virginia’s Eastern Shore. The island is closed to visitors during the summer, but guided tours are offered on Saturday mornings during the winter months.

Walking 13

I have passed over Fisherman Island many times, by way of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, but never found time to schedule a tour. Until last Saturday. Which turned out to be a very foggy Saturday.

Walking 12

I have to confess, I still didn’t schedule the tour. One of my dear friends made an appointment for our writing group to visit the island. Add in three tour guides, and the eight of us made enough noise to send most of the wildlife into cover.

Walking 1

But wildlife isn’t all the island has to offer. Its landscape is wind sculpted and salt stressed, trapped between the ever-restless currents of the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay.

Walking 6

Walking 10

For me, the Prickly Ash trees (also known as toothache trees or Hercules’ clubs) captured much of the island’s strange, raw beauty.

Toothache Tree

Toothache Tree

The Bay-side beach is one of the anchor points for the Bridge-Tunnel. It’s a wide, windy expanse of sand, littered with shells and other offerings from the waves. The tide line is marked by driftwood and heaps of debris.

Beach

Shells

Shells

Shells

Shells

Shells

Jellyfish

Beach

Shells

Crab

A short distance from the beach, the tour guides keep a collection of the island’s rarer finds. Our group added a sea turtle rib to the collection.

Shells

Shells

Bones

Bones

The island hasn’t always been a Wildlife Refuge. For that matter, the island hasn’t always been. According to a handout we received before beginning our tour, the island was first mentioned on navigation charts in 1815. It was only a sandbar at the time. By 1852 it had grown to 25 acres.

In 1886 a quarantine station was built on the island, consisting of seven buildings. During World War I the island became a military installation, and again during World War II. There hasn’t been a military presence on the island since 1969, but evidence of its past importance remains. The whale and sea turtle bones shown above rest on a concrete road. Dunes and rises morph into bunker entrances. Remnants of towers watch over cordgrass marshes, and greenbrier twines through rusty girders.

Abandoned

Abandoned

Abandoned

Abandoned

Our guides told us that Fisherman Island is continuing to grow. What started in 1852 as 25 acres now measures 1850 acres, though they are acres on the move. The entire island is shifting westward. Its drift is slow by my clock, but barrier islands keep a different clock.

Beach

Which might explain why our few hours on the island felt so wonderfully suspended from the world’s usual pace.

A Short Walk in New Shoes

Rae Spencer4 Comments

Tomorrow I am going on an Adventure! I’m so excited about the Adventure that I bought new shoes, which I decided to test by going for a walk today.

Geese Jan 10

I pulled into Ashville Park barely thirty minutes in front of a line of rain, so I didn’t have time to walk very far. I had enough time, though, to find the resident pair of domestic geese. These geese were featured in our local newspaper in 2010, “Sit back and enjoy the tale of Jack, the lonely goose,” and I’m happy they are still thriving.

Geese Jan 10

Geese Jan 10

Further down the road, I spotted an unfamiliar silhouette on a long, narrow pond. Before I got close enough to try for a photo, a sparrow began sounding an alarm and the slender diving bird disappeared. I waited a while, but the mysterious diver never returned.

Sparrow Jan 10

While I was photographing the sparrow (I believe this is a Song Sparrow), I spotted some unusual activity in a nearby stand of trees. Several vultures were resting together, at least five, and two more joined the group while I watched.

Vultures Jan 10

(The three in the bottom photo are definitely Turkey Vultures, but I can’t decide if the top photo shows a Black Vulture or an immature Turkey Vulture.)

Vultures Jan 10

More vultures were circling in as the rain arrived and chased me back to my car. My camera got a bit wet, as did my new shoes, but both have already dried and are waiting by the door for tomorrow’s Adventure. I may not be able to sleep tonight!

More Ducks

Rae Spencer2 Comments

Mallard Jan 8

When it comes to identifying ducks, I am woefully inept. For that matter, most water birds are mysteries to me, though there are a few exceptions. Like Mallards.

Mallard Jan 8

Mallard Jan 8

And American Coots, which were one of my mother’s favorite birds.

American Coot Jan 8

I confess this flock confused me at first, because I am not accustomed to seeing American Coots in such numbers. I usually find single individuals scattered among flocks of geese or gulls, rather than an entire flock all on their own.

American Coot Jan 8

I was bemused by their tight formation. Were they alarmed by something beneath the surface of the water? Were they trying to stay warm? Or is this normal behavior, when American Coots gather into flocks?

American Coot Jan 8

In order to identify a water bird that isn’t a Mallard or an American Coot, I need several clear photos and a prolonged session browsing Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds website. That’s how I learned two new ducks on Wednesday.

Ring necked Duck Jan 8

Ring-necked Ducks have distinctive rings around their bills, much more easily seen than the faint, reddish rings around their necks.

Ring necked Duck Jan 8

And Redheads are not the only ducks with red heads, but it seems they are the only red-headed ducks with gray backs and black-tipped blue bills.

Redhead Jan 8

Redhead Jan 8

Two new ducks should add up to a fulfilling walk with my camera, but, inevitably, each discovery is accompanied by elusive riddles. For every bird that strays within my camera’s reach, many others stay too far away to capture in enough detail for identification.

For example, I’m reasonably certain this is a loon, but which species of loon?

Loon Jan 8

And a rather nondescript pair of ducks teased me with glimpses of white wing patches.

Unknown Duck Jan 8

That might suggest Gadwalls, but what about the hint of a collar?
Unknown Duck Jan 8

These photos simply aren’t clear enough. Another entry for the “Unknown Ducks” folder in the archive.

Unknown Duck Jan 8

Sometimes the photos are clear enough for identification, but only just so. Wednesday’s walk added a new pair of Belted Kingfisher images to the archive, but one photo is out of focus and the other is underexposed.

Kingfisher Jan 8

Kingfisher Jan 8

As with everything else I attempt, success is rare and fleeting. Near misses and utter failures are far more common. It all adds up to happiness, though, because misses and failures mean I get to try again tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after that…

Mallard Jan 8

Mergansers, Ducks, and More

Rae Spencer5 Comments

Hooded Merganser Jan 5

A few days ago I noticed a group of Hooded Mergansers on a pond near our house. I didn’t have time to stop that day, but today’s mild weather convinced me to spend a few hours with my camera.

Hooded Merganser Jan 5

I counted eight mergansers on the pond today (four males and four females), as well as a pair of Mallards and a pair of Northern Shovelers.

Shoveler Jan 5

Shoveler Jan 5

On the banks, a Great Egret watched from one side and a Great Blue Heron from the other.

Egret January 5

Heron Jan 5

This was the day’s smallest pond, and it had the most birds. A much larger pond (more lake than pond) a few miles away was mostly deserted. Three seagulls rested in the middle, and two Pied-billed Grebes fished near the shore.

Pied Billed Grebe Jan 5

Pied Billed Grebe Jan 5

Finally, we drove through a growing neighborhood that was landscaped with several mid-sized ponds, each populated with sleepy mallards.

Mallards Jan 5

All afternoon clouds gathered and thickened in the sky, and by the time we returned home wind was beginning to blow the day’s warmth out to sea. Now rain is on the horizon, followed by icy cold. I’m sure many of the smaller ponds will freeze over, and again I find myself wondering about the birds. Do they know what is coming? Do they already know where they will go, when ice drives them out? I know where I’ll be–curled up with my blankets and books and cats, grateful as always for the luxuries of home.

January Birds

Rae Spencer2 Comments

The yard was full of birds today. Flocks arrived in waves, flashing in and out of patches of sunlight as they foraged. Rather than braving the cold, I sat in the window with my camera and enjoyed a long, quiet afternoon in the warmth of our kitchen.

Starling Jan 4

Robin Jan 4

Dove Jan 4

Cardinal Jan 4

The chickadees, warblers, and woodpeckers were too busy to stop for photos, but a small flock of sparrows spent nearly an hour grazing in the half-frozen grass and weeds. They stayed in a part of the yard that had already fallen into shade, pointedly avoiding sunlit areas.

Sparrow Jan 4

(There were four of these little sparrows, and I’ve had no luck identifying them. Chipping Sparrows? Swamp Sparrows? Am I getting close? Please comment if you can help!)

Sparrow Jan 4

Sparrow Jan 4

Tomorrow is forecast to be a bit warmer with lots of sunshine. I wonder if the birds know?