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Fall Migration

Fall Bird Migration

We're going south!

Chesapeake, Va., is a nationally recognized bird watcher's oasis, especially during the fall migratory period.  As the cooler weather begins and food becomes scarce, birds flock to Chesapeake, on their path south. Bird watchers will find more than 200 types of long-term birds in Chesapeake, as well as waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, and songbirds on their way to warmer climates.

Serious bird watchers will delight in catching a glimpse of the Swainson's Warbler and the Wayne's warbler (a race of the Black-throated Green Warbler), two of the most secretive and least observed of all North American birds.

Chesapeake is located within the Atlantic Flyway, and is the winter location for more than 1 million birds, including swans, geese and ducks - a third of the total waterfowl population that winter on the Atlantic Coast.

These and other migratory birds - which breed in Canada and northern United States and migrate to South and Central America during the winter - stop in Chesapeake for our unique and abundant wetlands.  Chesapeake bird watchers will enjoy the sights and sounds of warblers, ovenbirds, red-eyed vireos and many other birds as they stop to rest and refuel on their journey south.

Chesapeake is also home to part of the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, the largest entity on the Coastal Phase of the Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail. It has more than 100 species of migratory and native birds such as grebes, bitterns-herons, waxwing-starlings and vireos-wood warblers.

Come to Chesapeake each fall to see these wonderful migratory birds while enjoying the foliage in the National Wildlife Refuge. Bird watchers and wildlife enthusiasts alike will enjoy this chance to see exotic birds migrate south in Chesapeake's serene natural habitat.

Click here to check out our outdoors and seasonal vacation packages!

Sources:

http://www.fws.gov/chesapeakebay/migbird.html

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