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UID:2508951:Event:234058
DTSTAMP:20260407T111008Z
SUMMARY:75th Anniversary Celebration of the Back Bay National Wildlife
  Refuge
DESCRIPTION:IF YOU HAVE never visited Back Bay National Wildlife Refug
 e, Saturday will be a great day to get to know this treasure at the so
 uth end of Sandbridge.\nThis welcoming haven for wintering waterfowl i
 s throwing down the welcome mat for humans Saturday to celebrate the r
 efuge's 75th anniversary.\nYou are invited to visit and participate in
  all sorts of activities that will introduce you to the land and water
 s of this protected spot and tell you a little about its history.\nThe
 re will be no refuge entrance fee that day and all activities are free
 , including a tram tour at 1 p.m. that will take you through the refug
 e down to False Cape State Park and back.\nSo head down with your came
 ra as early as 7:30 a.m. for a guided bird walk, if you like. The open
 ing ceremony is at 9 a.m. Then visitors can hike around one of the imp
 oundments that is managed for wildlife and not only look for wading bi
 rds and other critters but stop at various stations set up along the w
 alk to learn about refuge history, decade by decade.\nYou will learn t
 hat the refuge, established in 1938 to protect wintering waterfowl, ha
 s grown over the years from 4,600 acres to 9,200 acres. You will find 
 out that the refuge once had no sand dunes and how the dunes came to b
 e, among other interesting tidbits.\nYou might even hear the \"clack, 
 clack, clacking\" call of the king rail or see this secretive marsh bi
 rd, as Steve Coari did on a Memorial Day visit. Coari, a Virginia Beac
 h Audubon Society member, took this photo (at left) of the rail, one o
 f a pair he saw that day.\nCoari also saw many other birds, including 
 a flock of cedar waxwings, a prairie warbler, easterntowhee, yellow wa
 rblers, kingbirds and great-crested flycatchers.\nThis time of year at
  Back Bay, song birds, wading birds and shore birds take over from the
  snow geese, tundra swan and other waterfowl that winter at the refuge
 .\nBut birds are not all you will see on this fertile, sandy spit of m
 arshland, maritime forest and beaches with the Atlantic Ocean and Back
  Bay on either side. If you take the tram tour, there's a chance you c
 ould see one of the feral pigs in the marsh along the way or a shy dee
 r, coyote or fox. You are sure to see turtles sunning on logs. The ven
 omous cottonmouth moccasin, king of the snakes at Back Bay, also might
  be seen sunning alongside a trail.\nYou might want to strike out on y
 our own along the Bay Trail, a short boardwalk trail near the refuge v
 isitor center that winds through a tunnel of grasses, cypress trees an
 d wax myrtles. You can see deer trails through the marshes and maybe a
  footprint on the trail, yellow-rumped warblers in the trees and maybe
  water snakes in the pond.\nOther activities during the day include sa
 ltwater fishing and kayak demonstrations and exhibits by wildlife reha
 bilitators and environmental groups. The Virginia Aquarium and Marine 
 Science Center will release a rehabbed sea turtle at 11 a.m.\nAs you d
 rive down the entrance road, keep your eyes peeled for the osprey nest
  on one of the power poles. You may see dad fly in with a fish for his
  young chicks. The osprey can fish for his family from both the ocean 
 and Back Bay, which is one of many reasons wildlife has thrived for 75
  years at this special place.\n\n\n\nFor more information visit https:
 //vbnightlife.com/events/75th-anniversary-celebration-of-the-back-bay-
 national-wildlife-re
DTSTART:20130608T113000Z
DTEND:20130608T180000Z
CATEGORIES:"family fun", educational
LOCATION:Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge
WEBSITE:http://www.fws.gov/refuge/back_bay/
URL:http://www.fws.gov/refuge/back_bay/
CONTACT:
ORGANIZER:VBnightlife.com  VBdaylife.com
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