2023 Sunset Seabird Safaris

2023 Tour Schedule – Sept. 22 is the last tour of the season

Friday, Sept. 22, 4:15 – 7:15 pm (sunset 6:58 pm)
please note: this tour is canceled due to a storm watch for the area (updated Sept. 21, noon)

Sunset Seabird Safari updates from June 29 and July 15

During a private tour on June 29, we discovered that South Point Spoils has experienced significant erosion since our summer tours of 2022. The island is much smaller, but we still had lovely views of nesting Brown Pelicans, Glossy Ibis, Little Blue Herons, and Tricolored Herons. The overall numbers of birds is reduced from past summers, but participants still greatly enjoyed the experience. Click here for the eBird checklist from June 29 (39 species tallied).

On July 15, we had a nice trip with great look at the birds! We have two eBird lists for the July 15 trip: Harbor Road and South Point. Photos below from our friend William Mount:

• 

• 

Tour Description

Join Delmarva Birding Weekends and Captain Ricky Kerrigan for birding boat trips departing from the West Ocean City Harbor and cruising the coastal bays behind Ocean City and Assateague Island. During the three-hour experience, we will likely see nesting herons and egrets, as well as migrating shorebirds and state-endangered Royal Terns and Black Skimmers. Capt. Ricky is a full-time police officer whose pontoon boat offers a smooth, safe, and relaxing ride.

The evening tour begins in the northern bays which include Skimmer Island and other unnamed islands rife with seabirds, shorebirds and waders. The aquatic safari then heads south past the gauntlet of nesting Ospreys for a jaunt behind Assateague. There, amidst the wild horses of Assateague Island, we’ll spot shorebirds along the narrow beach and mudflats, and herons and egrets in the marsh.

The southern terminus for the 28-mile roundtrip is South Point Spoils in Chincoteague Bay, with great looks at the full complement of colonial nesting wading birds. This is a great trip for photographers with spectacular looks at birds with the sun at our backs looking east toward the island in the evening. We aim to finish each tour back at the West Ocean City boat ramp within 15 to 30 minutes after sunset.

Species may include:

This is an in-boat-only tour. It does not enter the islands as this would greatly disturb the birds and jeopardize breeding success. We have been engaging in bird conservation in the coastal bays for more than 25 years including working with the Maryland Coastal Bays Program, Audubon Maryland-DC, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Maryland Bird Conservation Partnership, Maryland Ornithological Society, and US Army Corps of Engineers.

Cost and Scheduling

The cost for the three-hour cruise is $125/person. Guests can register individually or in groups. We need a minimum of four participants to run a tour. Our maximum number of participants is six.

To begin our summer scheduling, we are asking interested participants to email dmvbirds@gmail.com with the date(s) of the tour they can join. Once we have our minimum of four participants, we will send payment and registration information.

We may be able to arrange a private tour for groups of six or less, depending upon the availability of Capt. Ricky’s boat and our guides. Please email dmvbirds@gmail.com if you would like more information about a private tour.

For more information, scroll down this page and click on our Sunset Seabird Safaris: Directions, Policies & Tips page.