Surry County

Formed in 1652 from the portion of James City County south of the James River, Surry County has depended on an agricultural economy for more than 350 years. Situated on the south bank of the James, it is only a short, free ferry ride from Scotland to James City County and the historic sites of Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, and Yorktown. However, students of history will find Surry no less interesting than these storied sites, and it hosts such curiosities as Bacon’s Castle, the oldest brick dwelling in North America, which was occupied in 1676 by followers of Nathaniel Bacon’s ill-fated rebellion against the Virginia Colonial government. Surry County has carefully guarded its heritage, including many small towns and 19 sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places such as Bacon’s Castle and Chippokes Plantation (now a state park). It is a relatively sparsely populated county, and as of the 2010 census was home to 7058 people. The county seat is located in the small town of Surry.

Approximately 280 species of birds have been recorded in Surry County. The top birding spot is Hog Island WMA, which is a peninsula that juts out into the James River in the northeastern portion of the county. The 3908-acre WMA consists of three tracts of land. Two of these are in Surry County — the Hog Island Tract at the end of the peninsula and the Carlisle Tract on the peninsula’s east side. The other, the Stewart Tract, is in Isle of Wight County. Situated close to sea level, the Hog Island Tract is a mixture of flat, open land and pine forest interspersed with tidal marshes and controlled ponds. Intensive wildlife management on this tract includes a vast dike system to create impoundments that are seasonally drained and flooded to produce native plant foods for wintering waterfowl. Surrounding fields provide an additional food source in the form of annual agricultural crops. The Carlisle Tract is the management area’s “upland,” at about 35 feet in elevation. Here, timbered areas have been reforested with loblolly pine, and plantings of wildlife food and cover crops are located along powerline rights-of-way. Some 50 acres of additional marshlands along Lawnes Creek invade the Carlisle and Stewart Tracts. The most heavily birded section is the Hog Island Tract, which is connected to the Dominion Energy Surry Nuclear Power Plant. Due to special hunts conducted on the property, the WMA is only open on Sundays from October through January. From early February to the end of August, the property is open seven days a week. It is closed on Wednesdays in September for managed Canada Geese hunts. To access this section, birders must pass through a heavily-secured checkpoint at the power plant where a quick vehicle search is performed. A photo identification must be presented at this checkpoint or access to the WMA will be denied.

Perhaps the second-most well-known spot to birders is Chippokes Plantation State Park which is also situated along the James River but west of Hog Island. It is one of the oldest continually farmed plantations in the country. A working farm since 1619, the park offers modern recreational activities and a glimpse of life in a bygone era. Birders can find many trails in the park which are best explored during spring and fall migration for the potential of finding migrating warblers and other passerines. At the north end of the park, there is a substantial section of historic buildings surrounded by open fields and grasslands. This is a good area to look for field birds in spring/summer including Indigo Bunting, Blue Grosbeak and the sometimes hard-to-find Grasshopper Sparrow. Occasionally, Dickcissels have been seen and heard in this area.

As expected, Surry County boasts a long list of statewide and regional rarities including Virginia’s only Shiny Cowbird (1996), an eye-popping 40 Fulvous Whistling-Ducks (1961), six Cinnamon Teal (1998), Brown Booby (2017), Wood Stork, and Roseate Spoonbill. A Sabine’s Gull that commuted several times a day between James City and Surry Counties for about a week was seen by scores of birders who hopped aboard the ferry for just that purpose in September 2014. Other statewide notable records include Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Barnacle Goose, Swallow-tailed Kite, Hudsonian Godwit, Ruff, Black-legged Kittiwake (rare anywhere but at sea), Franklin’s Gull, Sooty and Bridled Terns (both associated with tropical cyclones), Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, and Brewer’s Blackbird. Of more regional interest are Ross’s Goose, Greater White-fronted Goose, Brant, Cackling Goose, Eurasian Wigeon, all three scoters, Long-tailed Duck, Great Cormorant, American Oystercatcher, Piping Plover, Whimbrel, Marbled Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Baird’s Sandpiper, Wilson’s and Red-necked Phalarope, Willet, Glaucous Gull, Black Skimmer, Black-billed Cuckoo, Short-eared Owl, Sedge Wren, Snow Bunting, Nelson’s Sparrow, American Tree Sparrow, and Boat-tailed Grackle.

—Adam D'Onofrio

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