Mid-Atlantic - May 2025 - Itinerary and logistics

The Mid-Atlantic, 3rd - 5th May 2025

This trip is another in my series of visits to the US aiming to travel to and bird in all fifty States. The Mid-Atlantic was rather an empty block despite my Aunt living in Maryland for many years and visiting several times. I also passed through Pennsylvania on a family trip about a decade ago without recording a single bird. As so many States abut each other in this area I constructed a route which over a long weekend would take in six different ones, three of them completely new, and righting the two wrongs above. Starting in Washtington DC I would drive east to Delaware, and then follow an anticlockwise loop passing through New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia before ending up back at Dulles. Early May is a wonderful time of year to be on the East Coast. Migration is in full swing so there is plenty of interest (Warblers!) and despite some massive storms the trip went exactly as planned. Mick joined me for the fun and to get a few world ticks. The possibilities for any US ticks for my list were slim - Nothern Bobwhite, Chuck-Will's-Widow and Ruffed Grouse. We didn't see any of them!

Logistics

• A three day trip over the early May bank holiday.

• Flights: from Heathrow to Washington DC on British Airways, leaving on Friday night and returning on Monday evening. The outbound journey was particularly exhausting as once we had arrived in DC it was nearly a three hour drive to the Delaware coast. I think we arrived at 1am which was 6am UK time, just as I would normally be getting up and I hadn't been to bed!

• Car Hire: Naturally I had wanted a Dodge Challenger but Avis didn't have any, and had to settle for a Toyota Camry. It was fine, the usual sloppy big-engined American nonsense but it did the job. As ever it was a competitive price, with little to choose between firms and models. Avis seems to have snuck a sneaky charge in after our return so beware of this.
• Driving: Ridiculously easy. A lot of the route was toll roads so we went for the EZ Pass flat fee.
• Weather: Decidedly awkward, with massive thunderstorms, lightning and torrential rain that washed out part of our second morning in Maryland, and which seemed to never be too far away at other times. We only had to run for the car once. Other than that it was warm and humid.
• Insects: Having been to New England in the spring I knew what to expect - mosquitos and ticks. I am not too bothered by the former but the latter I am hugely paranoid about. Despite being incredibly careful there were at least two occasions where we discovered deer ticks on our clothes, and I also found one in my hair. Speaking to locals there is nothing you can really do to prevent this and you just have to make sure you get them off before they settle in. Shower when you get in, and scrub the parts you can't see with a flannel.

• Accommodation: All three nights booked in advance based on the route and where we wanted to be for the morning birding. Regular chain motels like Super 8s. Cheap and cheerful.

• Food: OMG.

• Optics: No scope but we really could have used one at Bombay Hook NWR and at Augustine WA, both in Delaware, to scan the large pools for the numerous and often distant waders. Most of our birding was either in woodland or along forest edges though, so it was only really that one morning where we struggled. I need to invest in a travel scope.

• Literature: eBird! Merlin was also incredibly useful in working out what was around and then homing in on it.

Itinerary
Day 0: Arrived in Washington DC at around 9pm and then drove east over Chesapeake Bay to Dover, Delaware in order to be in position to bird Bombay Hook NWR from first light. We did not arrive until after 1am local time, and we were seriously flagging by the time we arrived.
Day 1: Bombay Hook NWR all morning. Then up the coast and over into to New Jersey to bird Fort Mott SP in the early afternoon. Back to Delaware late afternoon to try and clean up on a few species we had missed at Augustine WA, before driving east to Maryland and positioning just above Baltimore at a town called Aberdeen.

Day 2: Birded Swan Harbor Farm on the shores of Chesapeake Bay at first light, and then went up the river to Susquehanna SP. Unbirdable heavy rain curtailed this latter area almost immediately so we went and had an enormous brunch nearby before trying again. We had to dodge what were by now isolated showers, but the birding was really good with loads of birds out and feeding after the deluge. By mid afternoon we had moved north into Pennsylvania, birding Lake Redman and Gifford Pinchot SP near Harrisburg. Evening drive west into West Virginia staying overnight at Martinsburg.
Day 3: Early morning on one of the Appalachian slopes for a Warbler-fest before birding Stauffer's Marsh. Then east to Harper's Ferry, a notable Civil War site where WV, MD and VA collide. Then south into Virginia to bird a few sites for the rest of the day a whilst dodging the increasing storms as best we could. Late evening flight back to London and straight into work. Usual story.