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CAU > Seminars and Study Tours > Ornithology and Ecology in the Migration Season: Assateague Island, Virginia

Ornithology and Ecology in the Migration Season: Assateague Island, Virginia

October 10-13, 2008

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Overview

According to tradition, the only survivors of a sixteenth-century shipwreck were the mustangs whose descendants are widely known as the wild ponies of Chincoteague. But birders and other nature enthusiasts know that Chincoteague Island and its neighbor Assateague Island are much more than settings for a story. They constitute a truly beautiful, unspoiled stretch of the Atlantic coast, whose woods, marshes, ponds, and beaches are heavily populated with a marvelous variety of birds and other wildlife. Field study at Assateague during the peak of the fall migration season is always a most rewarding adventure.

Faculty

Two experienced and delightful naturalists will lead us. Charlie Smith, senior research associate in the Department of Natural Resources, has been leading CAU expeditions in the field for as long as anyone can remember. Cornellian and many-times CAU program leader Bob Budliger, a specialist in coastline ecologies, served for many years as the director of environmental education for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. With their talents, knowledge, and enthusiasm, Charlie and Bob will lead our daily explorations in different areas of the nine-thousand-acre Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island, with its 262 species of birds, its diminutive sika deer, the endangered Delmarva Peninsula fox squirrel, and, of course, the ponies.

Program Cost and Travel Arrangements

Lodgings will be at the very pleasant Waterside Inn on Chincoteague Channel, where each room has a private balcony overlooking the water. The program fee of $1,195 (per-person, double-occupancy) includes all lodging, meals, field trips, taxes, gratuities, escort services, and the full educational program. The supplement for single occupancy is $156.

Program Notes

This is not a physically strenuous program, but you must be able to walk a mile or more over uneven, sometimes wet terrain. Weather this time of year is typically mild and pleasant, though rain showers are always a possibility.