In Virginia, people live on Chincoteague and only wild things live on Assateague. In Maryland, a person can camp on Assateague, which isn't possible in Virginia. There are a myriad of things to do and see in either state and on, or around, both islands.
Assateague Island is a National Seashore in both states, and, in Virginia, Assateague is also the site of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge (CNWR). This confuses a lot of people. Chincoteague ponies run wild on Assateague Island in both Virginia and Maryland - but each state has a unique way of dealing with the ponies. All of the different kinds of wildlife on Assateague mingle and breed together - except the ponies (usually). There is a fence separating the Maryland and Virginia sides of the island, but ponies do, on occasion, break through and mingle. I can definitely say the ponies on the Virginia end of Assateague Island are branded and micro-chipped. The Maryland ponies are not branded. I don't know if they are chipped or not. A person, or family, can legally camp on the Maryland side of Assateague with a permit. No over-nighters are allowed in Virginia.
Chincoteague Island is located within the Virginia state borders only. It's where people live, work and play. If you visit Chincoteague or Assateague for the annual festivals, you know that you usually stay on Chincoteague in a hotel, motel, rental, or bed and breakfast. There are all sorts of festivals on Chincoteague. The most widely known, thanks to Marguerite Henry's book and the 20th Century Fox movie, Misty) is Pony Penning. There are also a Blueberry Festival, Seafood Festival, Oyster Festival, Decoy Festival, Arts and Crafts Festival, Chili Festival, the Volunteer Firemens' Carnival and multiple bird-watching festivals, throughout the year.
If you visit the islands, be prepared for heat, humidity and mosquitoes in the summer. Storms come from the Atlantic regularly - northeasters and hurricanes. I can easily remember the five high tide lines on the wall paper in my Grandfather's kitchen. A seemingly huge storm can sweep across the island in a few hours and wash everything new again.
What is there to do on the islands?
Well, first and foremost, Assateague is a National Seashore. The beach is highly recommended. Get some sun, play in the surf, or walk the beach. There are many walks and trails available for hiking on Assateague in both states. Check in at the respective Visitor's Centers and see what is recommended, or is off limits, for the day. (Some beach areas may be closed due to bird and/or turtle nesting.) There is also a widely varied group of wildlife on Assateague - from over 400 different kinds of birds, including bald eagles and peregrine falcons, to otters, muskrats, the Delmarva fox squirrel, water and grass snakes, turtles and terrapins, white tail deer, miniature elk (aka Sika deer), seals, ponies, frogs and toads, butterflies, raccoons, fox, groundhogs and rabbits, to name a few. Take a birding guide and/or a guide to wildlife tracks. Wild turkeys are in abundance and might startle you. With a fishing permit, you can surf fish from the beach. And you can tour the Assateague Lighthouse from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. during the summer.
Water activities? There is swimming and surfing, or one can take out a canoe, kayak, paddle board, or small motorboat. You can see all the sights on a guided tour; take a fishing boat into the bays or channels, or out into the ocean; you can fish, crab, clam and oyster - as long as it isn't on private or posted property. You can cook and eat what you catch - flounder is running well, I hear. On small cruises, one can take a hands-on ecological tour of the marshes and bays (with Captain Barry), tours around the island of Chincoteague with some local history thrown in, sunset cruises with champagne (with Captain Barry, and others), a guaranteed pony-sighting tour (with Captain Dan), sunrise and sunset cruises on the Miss Chincoteague, and just about anything you can imagine, or want, to do.
On Chincoteague, the choices seem endless - walking, biking or trolley tours; shopping; eating; reading; the library; the cinema; coffee houses; the Carnival on weekends in July; Second Saturday art shows; the Saturday Farmers Market; the Chincoteague Island Museum; the Chincoteague Bay Field Station; the Chincoteague Pony Center; the Chincoteague Natural History Alliance; the Refuge Golf and Amusements Center; or just kicking back and relaxing.... There are three parks on the island where you can picnic. And I mentioned eating a little earlier in this paragraph - the home made ice cream on Chincoteague is to die for! The Island Creamery is known as having the best ice cream on the east coast of the United States; then there's Mueller's Ice Cream Parlor and Mister Whippy - all delicious!
If you don't mind taking a short trip off the island, you can visit the NASA Visitors Center, go hang gliding with Virginia Hang Gliding, take an air tour with Carter Crabbe aviation, visit the Delmarva Discovery Center in Pocomoke City, or the Barrier Island Center of the Eastern Shore in Machipongo. You can also go horseback riding at Queen Hive Farm in Assawoman.
I never get around to doing everything I want to when I'm there - I have to pick and choose. You will, too.
Showing posts with label birding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birding. Show all posts
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Friday, March 4, 2016
The Devil's Backbone
I love going to the Devil's Backbone in Larimer County, Colorado. It's a short drive compared with some other places I like, and it's free. One must pay to enter state and national parks, but the Devil's Backbone is a part of Larimer County's Open Space. The 2,200 acres on the east side of the formation are open for hikers, runners, mountain bikers and horse back riders. If you leave from the Devil's Backbone trailhead, you can hike 15 miles to Lory State Park, all on Larimer County Open Space.
The Devil's Backbone is a 2-mile-long hogback of Dakota sandstone that stands west of Loveland. The sandstone was originally the shoreline of an inland sea at the time of tyrannosaurus Rex, and cataclysmic earthquakes in past ages have set the sandstone on end. Some parts of the Devil's Backbone tower 200 feet or more above the ridge that the geological formation appears from. The sandstone has weathered into angular arches, and many photographs have been taken of the Keyhole, a now famous sunrise photo spot.
The Backbone is the nesting area for a number of raptors, and the trails closest to the rocks are occasionally closed during nesting season. Red-tailed hawks, great horned owls and barn owls are frequently seen in the area. It is also the home of mule deer, elk, black bear, and mountain lions. If you are a lover of plants and flowers, more than 120 species of plants have been identified within 100 yards of the trails. In the spring, you might be able to see the rare Bell's twin pod, a yellow flower that is found in very few places in Larimer, Boulder, and Jefferson Counties - and no where else in the world.
The Arapaho, Cheyenne and Ute tribes of Native Americans lived and hunted in the area for many centuries. Many tribal artifacts have been found in the area. Since the sandstone was once a part of a sea shore, many fossils of ancient sea creatures and fish are to be seen. In early settler days, the skeleton of an ancient American elephant with 5-foot-long tusks was found. This skeleton is now in Chicago's Field Museum.
And I have to admit that if I approach the Devil's Backbone in fog, or a snow storm, and can only see a few parts of the huge formation, I can easily believe that some monstrous thing is rising out of the earth, and shaking free…. I easily understand why it was called the Devil's Backbone by the early white settlers.
The Devil's Backbone is a 2-mile-long hogback of Dakota sandstone that stands west of Loveland. The sandstone was originally the shoreline of an inland sea at the time of tyrannosaurus Rex, and cataclysmic earthquakes in past ages have set the sandstone on end. Some parts of the Devil's Backbone tower 200 feet or more above the ridge that the geological formation appears from. The sandstone has weathered into angular arches, and many photographs have been taken of the Keyhole, a now famous sunrise photo spot.
The Backbone is the nesting area for a number of raptors, and the trails closest to the rocks are occasionally closed during nesting season. Red-tailed hawks, great horned owls and barn owls are frequently seen in the area. It is also the home of mule deer, elk, black bear, and mountain lions. If you are a lover of plants and flowers, more than 120 species of plants have been identified within 100 yards of the trails. In the spring, you might be able to see the rare Bell's twin pod, a yellow flower that is found in very few places in Larimer, Boulder, and Jefferson Counties - and no where else in the world.
The Arapaho, Cheyenne and Ute tribes of Native Americans lived and hunted in the area for many centuries. Many tribal artifacts have been found in the area. Since the sandstone was once a part of a sea shore, many fossils of ancient sea creatures and fish are to be seen. In early settler days, the skeleton of an ancient American elephant with 5-foot-long tusks was found. This skeleton is now in Chicago's Field Museum.
And I have to admit that if I approach the Devil's Backbone in fog, or a snow storm, and can only see a few parts of the huge formation, I can easily believe that some monstrous thing is rising out of the earth, and shaking free…. I easily understand why it was called the Devil's Backbone by the early white settlers.
Monday, June 15, 2015
Fun Things to Do With Kids On Chincoteague Island
I love to do everything that is available on Chincoteague Island and it's eastern neighbor, Assateague. Originally, Chincoteague had a small farming community - mainly subsistence farming - and the main source of income for most folks was from the water. My ancestors were Chincoteague watermen, and I love the water and all the intriguing marine wildlife... That is why my first choice of anything to do on Chincoteague is going out on Captain Barry's Back Bay Cruises (see my previous blogs: http://bscrittersitter.blogspot.com/2015/06/chincoteague-dreams.html and http://bscrittersitter.blogspot.com/2015/06/captain-barry-fun-things-to-do-with.html) - Barry's Sea Life Expedition is a fantastic, informative, and (if you want) hands-on trip looking at the things that Chincoteague watermen did, and do. There are many tour boats to choose from on Chincoteague, but if you want factual information about marine biology and ecology, and how the shallow bays around the islands the islands encourage and propagate sea life, Captain Barry is the best way to learn.
A large amount of visitors to Chincoteague are there for one of two things - Chincoteague ponies and the birds at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge - or both. Me? I'm as horse-crazy and bird crazy as one can be - and, yes, I do have some great suggestions about things to do...
For those whose kids are pony crazy, or are fulfilling their own dreams (as adults) about Misty and the other famous Chincoteague ponies, I make these recommendations:
Take a trip out with Captain Dan's Guaranteed Pony Tours - if it isn't the week of Pony Penning - and you will see the ponies (usually several different herds) going about their daily lives. These Skippers know the individual ponies, and can give great background information.
Visit the Chincoteague Pony Centre, open every day except Sunday, and meet some descendants of the real Misty of Chincoteague.
Go across the bridge to Assateague and visit the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge - you can usually see some of the ponies from your vehicle, or you can walk the Woodland Trail to the Pony Overlook. During the evening, one can drive along the Wildlife Loop, if you don't want to walk it during the day, and usually one can see several groups of ponies there, also.
Visit the Refuge Inn, and see some of the Leonard family Chincoteague ponies in a pasture between the Inn and the McDonald's. The Leonard family has been on the island for a long time, and they breed their own ponies, much as Grandpa Beebe did (in Misty of Chincoteague).
For the people visiting for the bird watching, I can easily recommend:
Visiting anywhere on the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island. The 14,000 acre CNWR is a part of the Atlantic Fly Way, and sees over 300 kinds of birds each year. You can get birding lists from the Visitor's Center, or print them out from your own computer.
Take the free Wildlife Bus Tour and Lighthouse Tour on the CNWR during the weekends.
Take Captain Dan's Around the Island Tour.
Take Captain Charlie Birch's Chincoteague Island Tours & Nature Cruises.
Take Daisy's Island Cruises.
Rent a bicycle and see the islands (and all the sights) in a relaxed fashion, at your own pace.
If you're there on the weekend (Friday or Saturday night), visit the 90th Annual Firemen's Carnival.
There are all kinds of shops - local artists, photography, painting, decoys, books - and restaurants to fit any budget.
Go the the Museum of Chincoteague Island, the Captain Timothy Hill House (imagine a family living in a space that small), or, head back to the mainland and visit the NASA Visitors Center for space and rocketry information.
Hire a fishing guide, or rent your own boat, canoe or kayak.
Play on the beach, get a tan, and swim in the Atlantic Ocean at the Assateague National Seashore (the beach part of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge).
Go clamming, crabbing, or fishing from a dock, from the water, or surf fish at the beach.
Swim.
Have a picnic and look at the cloud shapes.
Relax and have the kids read any of the multitude of childrens Chincoteague books, or study the new edition of The Field Guide to the Chincoteague Wild Ponies Expanded, Revised & Updated by Kelly Lidard. Or look over the Chincoteague Pony Identification Cards by Lois Szymanski. Check out bird identification books written for kids and/or adults.
** A few words of warning: Ponies do bite and kick unexpectedly. Ticks, mosquitoes, midges, and flies are plentiful. It's very humid and you will sweat a lot - stay hydrated. Take insect repellent. Use sunblock. Wear a hat. Wear sunglasses. If you go out on the water, take something warm to wear; weather on the water changes quickly.**
Enjoy the islands!
A large amount of visitors to Chincoteague are there for one of two things - Chincoteague ponies and the birds at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge - or both. Me? I'm as horse-crazy and bird crazy as one can be - and, yes, I do have some great suggestions about things to do...
For those whose kids are pony crazy, or are fulfilling their own dreams (as adults) about Misty and the other famous Chincoteague ponies, I make these recommendations:
Take a trip out with Captain Dan's Guaranteed Pony Tours - if it isn't the week of Pony Penning - and you will see the ponies (usually several different herds) going about their daily lives. These Skippers know the individual ponies, and can give great background information.
Visit the Chincoteague Pony Centre, open every day except Sunday, and meet some descendants of the real Misty of Chincoteague.
Go across the bridge to Assateague and visit the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge - you can usually see some of the ponies from your vehicle, or you can walk the Woodland Trail to the Pony Overlook. During the evening, one can drive along the Wildlife Loop, if you don't want to walk it during the day, and usually one can see several groups of ponies there, also.
Visit the Refuge Inn, and see some of the Leonard family Chincoteague ponies in a pasture between the Inn and the McDonald's. The Leonard family has been on the island for a long time, and they breed their own ponies, much as Grandpa Beebe did (in Misty of Chincoteague).
For the people visiting for the bird watching, I can easily recommend:
Visiting anywhere on the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island. The 14,000 acre CNWR is a part of the Atlantic Fly Way, and sees over 300 kinds of birds each year. You can get birding lists from the Visitor's Center, or print them out from your own computer.
Take the free Wildlife Bus Tour and Lighthouse Tour on the CNWR during the weekends.
Take Captain Dan's Around the Island Tour.
Take Captain Charlie Birch's Chincoteague Island Tours & Nature Cruises.
Take Daisy's Island Cruises.
Rent a bicycle and see the islands (and all the sights) in a relaxed fashion, at your own pace.
If you're there on the weekend (Friday or Saturday night), visit the 90th Annual Firemen's Carnival.
There are all kinds of shops - local artists, photography, painting, decoys, books - and restaurants to fit any budget.
Go the the Museum of Chincoteague Island, the Captain Timothy Hill House (imagine a family living in a space that small), or, head back to the mainland and visit the NASA Visitors Center for space and rocketry information.
Hire a fishing guide, or rent your own boat, canoe or kayak.
Play on the beach, get a tan, and swim in the Atlantic Ocean at the Assateague National Seashore (the beach part of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge).
Go clamming, crabbing, or fishing from a dock, from the water, or surf fish at the beach.
Swim.
Have a picnic and look at the cloud shapes.
Relax and have the kids read any of the multitude of childrens Chincoteague books, or study the new edition of The Field Guide to the Chincoteague Wild Ponies Expanded, Revised & Updated by Kelly Lidard. Or look over the Chincoteague Pony Identification Cards by Lois Szymanski. Check out bird identification books written for kids and/or adults.
** A few words of warning: Ponies do bite and kick unexpectedly. Ticks, mosquitoes, midges, and flies are plentiful. It's very humid and you will sweat a lot - stay hydrated. Take insect repellent. Use sunblock. Wear a hat. Wear sunglasses. If you go out on the water, take something warm to wear; weather on the water changes quickly.**
Enjoy the islands!
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