Members of the Middle Peninsula Bird Club conducted a four-hour bird survey of the Catlett Islands on May 8, partnering with staff from the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia. The survey relates to conservation efforts of target bird species including waterfowl, wading birds, and secretive marsh birds. The group identified 41 species of birds and counted 165 individual birds. The highlight was observing 10 Red-headed Woodpeckers in the forested wetland hummocks. Once very common in the area, the Red-headed Woodpecker population has been decreasing because of loss of potential nesting sites in dead trees, the club said. Taking part in the bird survey were, from left, David Yeager, Susan Crockett, Tom Crockett, Gee Brownley, and Erin Reilly and Alex Demeo of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
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