ES Birders Add New Field Trip and Osprey Webinar

Eastern Shore Birders have added a new field trip for October 9, 2026, 8:30 am to 1:00 pm, which is a special opportunity to go birding at the Wallops Flight Facility with our friends at Chincoteague Bay Field Station! and (2) The American Bird Conservancy is sponsoring a special webinar about the osprey crisis in the Chesapeake Bay.

The field trip:

NASA Wallops Flight facility provides flight and launch range services to meet government and commercial sector needs for accessing flight regimes worldwide from the Earth’s surface to the moon and beyond. Surrounding the NASA infrastructure at Wallops Island are salt marshes, beaches and bays that are teeming with birds. The CBFS bus will stop at authorized areas on Wallops for scoping the marshes and water for wading birds, seabirds and shorebirds. We will also visit the beach for a ~1.5-mile roundtrip hike on the sand.

Please make certain to read through the rules and guidelines posted here before registering for this field trip. You must follow all rules in order to participate. There is a $20 fee that will be collected the day of the trip.

You must pre-register for this trip. Please call or text Helen @803-292-6882 or Gary @ 803-292-6883 to register BEFORE SEPTEMBER 24. They will provide you with additional registration details. 

Please note: The Wallops Flight Facility is a restricted area. You must follow these rules and guidelines in order to participate

• All guests and guides will need to provide their legal first, middle and last name as it appears on their Real ID before September 24, 2026. Access to the Wallops Flight Facility is only open to U.S. citizens and green card holders. Participants who are not U.S. citizens require a special NASA escort, and we have been informed that an escort will not be made available for this tour. Please note: You will be sharing your legal first, middle and last name via email with a representative of Birding Eastern Shore, and this information will then be shared via email with the Chincoteague Bay Field Station and NASA. If you do not wish to share your legal first, middle and last name via email (not through a secure website), then please do not register for this trip.
• All guests and guides must bring their Real ID with them during the trip. If someone doesn’t have a Real ID they can bring their license and passport. Those who do not have their Real ID or license and passport will not be permitted to enter the Wallops Flight Facility. Click here for more information about the Real ID.
• Participants are not permitted to take photos of Wallops Flight Facility buildings and infrastructure. Photos of birds and nature are fine as long as they don’t accidentally include any buildings in the background. NASA security is strict about this policy.
• Participants must remain with the group at all times, and follow the instructions of the guides and bus drivers. Participants are not permitted to access restricted areas.
• The trip will go rain or shine, unless weather conditions are predicted to be dangerous.
• Do not “tag” the Wallops Flight Facility in posts on social media.
• If the Wallops Flight Facility is closed unexpectedly on October 9, the trip will be canceled.
• If the trip is canceled due to dangerous weather or a Wallops Flight Facility closure, Birding Eastern Shore will notify all guests via email. 

Some common sense approaches to make your birding trip more enjoyable:

• Wear appropriate clothing for early October weather near the ocean. Wear appropriate shoes for hiking on the beach.
• Carry sunscreen, sunglasses and/or a hat to protect yourself from the sun. Prepare for mosquitoes and biting flies.
• Bring rain gear as all events are rain or shine.
• Try to arrive a little before the scheduled trip departs.
• Most trips are not appropriate for young children. Please use your discretion when registering.
• Be courteous to your fellow birders. Speak quietly and turn off cell phones during trips.
• Restroom facilities are only available at the Chincoteague Bay Field Station before and after the tour.

Please note:

• Trips will go in the rain or fog, unless torrential downpours prevent us from viewing wildlife.
• If the trip is canceled due to dangerous conditions (typically storms or strong, gusting winds), we will notify you via email and text. Please note that the email will be sent to all participants BCC, so you may need to check your email spam folder.

 (2) The Osprey reproduction crisis in the Chesapeake Bay has reached a national audience. The American Bird Conservancy has joined the effort to save this iconic Bay species. They are hosting a webinar on September 25 at Noon eastern time. All are invited. Please see the link below.

The audience is bird conservation interests– conservation, birders, clubs, etc. – targeting eastern small and large, but if others want to join there is not harm.

Content: Dr. Watts and Ben Wurst will provide education on the historic and current context for Atlantic Osprey declines, including the latest 2026 findings, the relation to Menhaden and other factors. Plus the value of citizen science in tracking all of this, ASMFC history/authority/current opportunity, and more. 

Call to Action: 1) Ben Wurst will discuss how data is collected locally which helps us identify issues, and have a call to action for folks to participate in citizen science and how. 2) The ASMFC comment opportunity with context will be provided by Will Poston.

You are invited to register for a Zoom webinar!

When: Sep 25, 2026 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic:  Osprey Declines & Menhaden: Connecting the Dots

Register in advance for this webinar:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_v-2gOyppSRWEkzIHhtXhlQ

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Brian Brooks

Vice President, Advocacy and Threats                                                                                                    

American Bird Conservancy

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Wayne Creed

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