wildlife of Chincoteague

Back in August we went out to Virginia Beach to visit in-laws.  I got pics up of Virginia dragonflies; I never got around to the bird pics.  We took one day and drove up to Assateague NWR which includes some of Chincoteague island and took a boat trip.  Dolphins were the highlight for most of the participants.

It wasn't easy to catch them with their heads above water.  The above pic is the only one I managed.  Almost all of them showed evidence of encounters with propellers in the shallow bay if you looked closely enough.



The first oystercatchers that flew past the boat caught me by surprise, I had to put bins on them to see what they were.  I saw another one later that was a little closer.  Despite heavy cropping it's still my best photo of an oystercatcher.

 It's a bird I'd like to encounter again somewhere.

I was also a little surprised to see 2 Black Scoters out by one of the breaker islands.

 The eBird reviewer was surprised too and hadn't accepted them last I checked.  Royal terns are more expected, they're a lot harder to see in Michigan.

 

We had the good fortune to see a cloverleaf jelly fish from the safety of the boat.

 A Clapper Rail was also quite distant.  This pic is cropped more than I'd like.  I heard one well, but this one I couldn't even say for sure wasn't a Willet until I zoomed in closely on a few of the pics.

No such ID issues for ospreys.

Finally, a few of the famous (and well-managed) pony herd.

Maybe next time I'll finally run into a Seaside Sparrow, there'll probably be less than a 2 month delay in those pics.