Walt Childs and I had been planning a trip to the east coast of Virginia for a couple of months. Although it's only a three to four hour drive each way, the only civilized way to be there in the early morning is to spend one or more nights in the local area. Scheduling issues made these three days the only time this winter both of us could go there, and it was a go or no-go situation depending on the weather. For the two weeks prior to the trip, the weather forecast, especially for the 17th and 18th, seemed to change every few hours. We decided on the 16th to make the trip, as the forecast was for early morning, light snow on the 17th, and very cold and windy, but sunny, for the next two days.

I had made a target list of six avian species that I wanted to see, and these species had been seen in the Virginia coastal area off and on for a few weeks. Three of them were potential life birds for me: Harlequin Duck (seen off the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel Island #1 (CBBT #1)), King Rail (seen at Back Bay NWR), and Lesser Black-backed Gull (seen at lots of locations along the coast), and three species for which I had already seen, but wanted photos (or better photos): Snow Bunting (seen farther north at Grandview Beach), Virginia Rail (seen at Back Bay NWR), and male Common Eider (seen at Rudee Inlet). I had probably already seen a Lesser Black-backed Gull, but wanted to make sure I could see their yellow legs as opposed to the pinkish leges of the more common Great Black-backed Gull.

Virginia Beach area birding sites