Kiptopeke, Virginia

This watch site, managed by the Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory and hosted by Kiptopeke State Park, lies at the tip of the Delmarva Peninsula. Birds moving south along the coast are funneled to this point at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Monitoring and banding of raptors during the fall migration has been conducted there since 1977. It's probably the best place in the world to see merlins, which feed upon the shorebirds and land birds that also accumulate in the area each fall.

To learn more about this site, visit the Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory Web site.

Merlin, male
© Kevin T. Karlson