As of July 1998, fully 414 species have been found in the two counties of Virginia's Eastern Shore, and probably 200 or more species are present during the height of fall migration in September, though many can be tough to find.

   For many years, the Virginia Society of Ornithology has conducted several days of field trips in mid-September, and for 30 years, data on migrant landbirds have been collected at Kiptopeke, now Kiptopeke State Park. Based on previous years of the Kiptopeke Challenge, and on the collective experience of Virginia's birders and banders, we offer the following tips on how to structure your Big Day for the Kiptopeke Challenge (hereafter, KC).

   We recommend strongly that you purchase the American Birding Association's A Birder's Guide to Virginia (compiler David Johnston), which has extensive maps of the areas mentioned below. Though other birding competitions do not provide bird-finding information to its participants, the Board of KESTREL feels strongly that the KC should be designed with as much Virginia Hospitality as possible, and so what you will read below has about as much knowledge as any of the teams from past years possess. The truth is: these migrants move rapidly, especially passerines at the tip of the Peninsula in the morning, and any team can win this competition! If you read back issues of American Birds, Field Notes and other journals that cover the fall migration, you will see how overwhelming and dynamic this time of year can be.

   We also welcome your input on this Page -- feel free to send mail with your bird-finding ideas to Ned Brinkley at esb4n@virginia.edu. Good luck in planning your Big Day!!

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Passerines || Nonpasserines

Key to Bird-Finding Abbreviations

KSP	Kiptopeke State Park
FINWR	Fisherman Island National Wildlife Refuge
CNWR	Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge
ESVNWR	Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge
CBBT	Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel