Saturday, FeBREWary 23: Berlin & Ocean City

Saturday, FeBREWary 23, 2019: We’ll meet for coffee in Berlin, MD, at the Burley Cafe, and bird the hotspots around Berlin, Assateague Island, and Ocean City. We’ll end the adventure with a Happy Hour tally rally at Burley Oak Brewing in Berlin. You can register for one trip or both. Invite your friends on Facebook!

MORNING

The Nature of Newport Bay (DRIVING/HIKING)
8:00 – 11:30 am
Cost: $25/person
Meeting Location: Burley Cafe, 17 Jefferson St, Berlin, MD 21811

Meet your guides at the Burley Cafe in Berlin for coffee and an overview of the day’s itinerary. After coffee, we’ll caravan to a birding hotspot along Newport Bay, just a short drive from Berlin. We’ll enjoy short mid-morning walks at Newport Farm, a 2,200-acre private property with open marshes, farm fields, woodlands, and a duck-filled, 50-acre freshwater pond. This incredible private wildlife refuge is sure to produce such species as Bald Eagle, Brown-headed Nutchatch, and many of our winter waterfowl species. American White Pelicans and Golden Eagles have been spotted here during the winter, too. There is a bathroom available at the farm during the trip. After our morning adventure, we’ll break for lunch before our afternoon field trip.

AFTERNOON

Assateague, Ocean City and Berlin Falls Park (DRIVING/HIKING)
1:30 – 4:30 pm
Cost: $25/person
Meeting Location: Assateague Island Visitor Center (southern side of Route 611, before the Verrazzano Bridge entrance into the park)

We’ll meet in the parking lot of the Assateague Island Visitor Center for a short hike along Sinepuxent Bay to search for Buffleheads, mergansers and loons on the open water. After the hike, we’ll caravan and scope out a few freshwater ponds for waterfowl before we stop at the Ocean City Inlet to search for Long-tailed Ducks, Purple Sandpipers, and sea birds on the Atlantic. We’ll drive back to Berlin for a hike around the ponds at Berlin Falls Park. We’ll end our FeBREWary adventure at Burley Oak Brewing, where we’ll host our Happy Hour Tally Rally and enjoy locally-made craft beer and root beer.

Please note:
Food and drink are not included in the cost for this trip.
No cancellations are accepted after February 15, 2019.
Trips will go rain or shine. If the trip is canceled due to dangerous conditions, a full refund will be provided.

PHOTO CREDITS: Bald Eagle photo courtesy of Frode Jacobsen. Long-tailed Duck photo courtesy of Susan Hale.