Sherry Rollins, Edith Bradbury, Doug Dwoyer, Tom Crockett, Mark Sopko and Dave Yeager, from left, took part in the Middle Peninsula Bird Club’s Great Backyard Bird Count at Bethel Beach Natural Area Preserve in Mathews on Saturday, Feb. 18. Twenty-nine species of birds were observed and 541 birds were counted at Bethel Beach. This count was also the Winter Bird and Wildlife Survey for a Middle Peninsula Master Naturalist Project held in conjunction with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resource’s Adopt-a-Trail program. The group also visited New Point Comfort Natural Area Preserve and observed 16 species with 186 individual birds counted. The highlight there was watching two pairs of Bald Eagles engage in the courtship ritual of a mid-air spiraling dance. Also shown here is a Savannah Sparrow (Ipswich Form), which is considered a rare bird in our area and has been observed most of the winter at Bethel Beach.

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