The Binocular Site
Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland
Assateague Island National Seashore, is part of Assateague Island, a barrier island located off the coast of Maryland. In the 1950s, the land that now comprises the Assateague seashore was zoned for private resort development. In 1962, a severe storm, referred to as the Ash Wednesday Storm, destroyed all the island's structures, and ripped out the roads that had been built to accommodate the anticipated resorts. Those resort plans were abandoned, and the National Park Service took over the land. In 1965, the area was designated a National Seashore. More than 2.1 million people visit the seashore every year.
The Assateague Seashore is unique and well known for the herds of wild horses that roam freely all over the island. They are protected by the National Park Service and Fish & Wildlife Service, and while many visitors come to the island to observe them, they are not to be hunted or tamed.
The island is also an important stop for migratory shorebirds, and many species rest and feed on the island during migration. More than 320 species of birds live on the island, some permanently, others during migration periods. Some of the birds found on the island include pelicans, terns, godwits, plovers, oyster catchers, black skimmers, peregrine falcons, and dunlins. It is not uncommon to see bald eagles as well.
The state bird of Maryland is the Baltimore Oriole and you can find a birding checklist for Maryland here.
Photo credit to deanwissing, used with permission under the creative commons license. You can learn more the wild ponies and other wildlife at Assateague Island National Seashore here.
If you've visited Assateague Island, please take the time to share your experience and any tips or insight you have about this Maryland birding location below.
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Average User Rating
On the Sunday after Thanksgiving my husband and I went to the Delmarva Peninsula on the Eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay. We visited three of the many wildlife refuges on the Peninsula. They were the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, MD, the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island, VA and the Eastern Neck Island National Wildlife Refuge, MD. They are all under the management of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department and are excellent bird watching locations, particularly for waterfowl. My favorite was the Eastern Neck site, because there we were able to see pairs of bald eagles nearly everywhere we stopped. At one time we sighted two pair in one binocular frame. My husband says there were three, but the third was so far in the distance that I couldn't identify them. Looking out from the hide behind the visitor center, we saw a great horned owl perched on a hummock sleeping, to the left was a great blue heron and to the right was a bird of prey, that may have been a peregrine falcon. The tundra swans were coming in and we also saw a belted (banded) kingfisher. I highly recommend the refuges there because they are little visited and at this time of year, many migratory birds flying in.
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