Birder Ban Breeds Contempt

The Washington Post reports that security concerns at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel have prompted officials to propose a ban on bird-watching from most of the 20-mile span between the Eastern Shore and Virginia Beach, and distraught birders are waging a phone and fax campaign against it.

Photo Credit: Steve Earley -- The Virginian-pilot
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is popular for its large mix of birds and four manmade "islands" for viewing.

The area that some birders call the "Serengeti of the East," because of the large and unusual mix of birds drawn to the 40-year-old bridge-tunnel, is flanked by the Chesapeake Bay on the west and the Atlantic Ocean on the east. Birders have had unusual access to ocean birds because they can park on four manmade "islands," one at each end of the two, mile-long tunnels where the span dips beneath the bay.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15599-2005Mar7.html