Virginia Coast Reserve

Hog Island, Virginia Coast Reserve © Hal Brindley

Why You Should Visit
This coastal wilderness features beaches,  forests, maritime vegetation and salt marshes. Barrier islands, thin strips of land running parallel to the coastline along much of the Atlantic shore, comprise a large part of the coastal habitat. The Conservancy owns all or part of 14 of the 18 Virginia barrier islands. Lying at the intersection of diverse habitats, these islands both support a rich array of life and help buffer Virginia's Eastern Shore against storms.

Location
The islands run more than 60 miles south from the Maryland border to the Chesapeake Bay.

Hours
Year-round

Size
38,000 acres

Conditions
The islands are all in their natural state with many beaches. There are no trails. A navigational chart is recommended for boaters.

How to Prepare for Your Visit
Before visiting, please contact the VCR office:
11332 Brownsville Road
Nassawadox, VA 23413
(757) 442-3049

Please see "Preserve Visitation Guidelines"

Directions to Virginia Eastern Shore
From Salisbury, Maryland:

• Take U.S. 13 south into Virginia to Accomack County.

From Norfolk area:

• Take Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to Delmarva Peninsula.
• Proceed on U.S. 13 north to Northampton County.

What to See: Birds
The islands shelter more than 250 species of raptors, songbirds, and shorebirds, which find food in the adjacent bays and salt marshes.

Starting in September, songbirds and raptors stop by on their way south. The forested southern tip of the Eastern Shore serves as a funneling point for millions of migrating songbirds. Winter brings thousands of black ducks, brant and snow geese. Come May, a thick crowd of sandpipers covers the beaches and tidal flats, fattening themselves before flying to arctic nesting grounds.

Recent spring surveys revealed nearly 3,000 red knots stopped on Metompkin and Parramore islands alone just after the full moon in May. In winter, some 2,000 American oystercatchers, nearly a quarter of the North American population of these remarkable birds, take refuge on the Eastern Shore.  

Also seeking sanctuary here is the piping plover, a small, thick-necked bird whose nesting habitat has been overwhelmed by coastal development elsewhere. The reserve's undeveloped islands offer plovers some of their favorite nesting grounds: an area littered with sun-bleached shells. When the dun-colored plovers nest here, their camouflage is perfect; the birds are nearly impossible to spot until they move.

Other nesters here include terns and skimmers. During the peak of the nesting season in June, brown pelicans and royal terns flock to Fisherman Island; black skimmers and common terns are thick on Cedar Island. All must ward off danger. Marauding gulls, for one, can puncture the eggs of a tern colony or destroy untended chicks.

What to See: Plants
Mostly marsh grasses. Some islands have wooded areas.

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site
In the 1960s, developers purchased one of the islands with the intent of building a seaside resort like Ocean City, Maryland. In response, The Nature Conservancy helped form a coalition to purchase the islands to prevent coastal development and preserve habitat.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing
The Conservancy established one of its first community-based conservation programs on the Eastern Shore. Today the staff conducts research and ecological management, such as eelgrass and oyster restoration projects, on and around the barrier islands, while working with local partners to preserve the coast from future development. The program area extends out to the continental shelf, and the Conservancy is completing its first-ever offshore marine conservation action plan.