BERLIN — With COVID-19 protocols in place, Delmarva Birding Weekends has announced the second annual Oktobirdfest slated for Oct. 9-11.
Like spring migration in late April, fall migration in early October offers high numbers of species for nature lovers to enjoy as warblers, herons, and egrets trade places with waterfowl, hawks and eagles. Registration for the popular event is now open at http://delmarvabirding.com/oktobirdfest-oct-9-11/.
Nature lovers can register for just one field trip or multiple field trips each day of the three-day event. On Friday, participants can get an early start to the weekend with both songbirds and shorebirds near Ocean City and Berlin before embarking on an afternoon trip to the nearby 2,200-acre private Newport Farms.
On Saturday, after trips to the beautiful landings in Chincoteague Bay and a hawk walk around the dunes at Cape Henlopen, the highlight of Oktobirdfest takes place on the Shorebird Explorer when ponies, shorebirds, and eagles put on a show behind Assateague Island. Top the weekend off with a Sunday paddle on Ayres Creek or a saunter around Delaware Seashore State Park.
Guided by local fun-loving birders with decades-long experience, the walking tours, boat trips, and canoe and kayak paddles will accommodate visitors from the curious nature lover to fowl fanatics. Every year, birdwatchers from surrounding states flock to Delmarva in the fall.
“This is our biggest fall nature-oriented weekend,” said Worcester County Tourism Director Melanie Pursel. “People will be amazed by the number of eagles and flocking herons, but they will see a lot more than that walking, paddling, and boating with guides in the wilds around Pocomoke City, Snow Hill, Berlin, and Ocean City. Delmarva Birding Weekend trips are so good that the governor issued a tourism award for them in 2018.”
“The October weekend is spectacular,” said Southern Delaware Tourism Director Scott Thomas. “Imagine hiking a dunes trail at Cape Henlopen to be met with a Peregrine Falcon dive bombing a flock of shorebirds. Or spend Sunday morning at Delaware Seashore State Park enjoying the beautiful yellow of fall warblers. That’s what the weekend is all about.”
Social events for this year’s Oktobirdfest have been postponed to 2021 due to the pandemic. Typically these “Tally Rallies” would be held at local breweries, bars, and restaurants, and allow participants to add to the species checklist and swap nature stories with new friends.
Indeed participants recount the event in terms of experiences rather than simply observing birds – a majestic Bald Eagle soaring over the marsh, a flock of white ibis, or the eerie hoot and shadow of an owl at dusk. An outdoor experience is the true draw.
The Delmarva Peninsula is one of the country’s premier birding areas, thanks to an extensive variety of habitat protected by our coastal parks, refuges and wildlife management areas. More than 400 bird species have been recorded in the region and previous Weekend tallies have topped 200 species.
If boasting that many species isn’t enough, participants should feel even better knowing that they’ve helped Delmarva’s birds by promoting birding and habitat conservation. Birders, both novice and experienced, make an important statement about the economic value of birds and their habitats through the money they spend in local hotels, restaurants, and shops.
“It’s our vast shallow bays and large tracts of protected marshes and bald cypress forests that make the Delmarva Peninsula one of the finest birding regions in the nation,” said guide and organizer Jim Rapp. “During the weekend, our guests will hike on private farmland and woodland that are normally off-limits to birders, and our waterborne trips go where the birds are.”
Co-organizer Dave Wilson added most trips are not physically taxing and the event provides a rare opportunity to tally 100 species in a day in places that are normally inaccessible to the public. For Oktobirdfest 2020, mask wearing and social distancing will be the rule. There will be no carpooling and numbers of seats will be reduced.