The beach access at 11th View Street offers the easiest parking for the far western portion of Willoughby Beach. With the added benefit of relatively little crowding even on nice summer days this can be a great access point for a walk on the beach or a thorough scan of the mouth of the James River with relatively little human disturbance. One advantage of this access is the elevated wooden walkway that terminates at the dune/beach transition. This walkway is an excellent spot to set up a scope and scan the beach and open water. Visible to the northwest is the south island of the HRBT and adjoining Fort Wool/Riprap Island. With its vibrant breeding population of many colonial nesting species (Royal, Gull-billed, Sandwich, and Common Terns, Black Skimmer, Snowy Egret, Laughing and Herring Gulls, American Oystercatcher, and a few other species) leaving to feed in nearby waters during the summer months, patient observation and some luck can yield almost all of these species, some of which are tough in Norfolk.
Offshore waters have the potential to host anything from scoters to grebes to Northern Gannets and several species of gulls. Strong easterlies may even give up summer Wilson’s Storm-Petrels or something even more mouth watering like a Black-legged Kittiwake or Sooty Shearwater.
Perhaps the most prominent feature visible from the beach is the line of rock breakwaters just offshore. These structures are readily used by a variety of species for roosting and feeding, including Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Spotted Sandpiper and several tern species during the appropriate season.
Onshore, the beaches play host to many species typical of the habitat, such as gulls, terns and some shorebirds, particularly early in the morning before beachgoers and dogs arrive. On two occasions Seaside Sparrows have been seen from the beach near this access point. One was photographed foraging in the breakwaters and the other seen feeding in the wrack line and hiding in the dunes.
In the backyard of a house about a hundred yards west of the beach access are several Purple Martin nesting gourd complexes, which host approximately 75 adults.
eBird Hotspot: 11th View Street Public Beach Access
—Nick Newberry