As a result of ongoing construction and heightened security measures, the birding opportunities for this hotspot group are restricted to car birding as you cross 20 miles of open water at 45mph. It is possible to schedule and pay for an escort to take you to island #4, but those plans must be made a minimum of 10 days in advance. 

Pay your toll and proceed onto the bridge paying close attention to the speed limit. If it is your intention to experience the CBBT as the birding wonder that it is and not just a thoroughfare, please bring a friend so one person can commit to undistracted driving. 

That said, when driving in the left lane, be sure to scan the water between the two bridges and around the pilings. In winter, this area is frequented by eiders and other sea ducks.  Crane your neck as you enter and exit each tunnel to scan the breakwaters for shorebirds and wayward migrants, as well as raptors that are doing the same. In the right circumstances, the underwater topography of the mouth of the bay will be evident, as schools of fish gather by the Thimble Shoals, and flocks of diving birds and rafts wintering seaducks gather in turn.

Turnarounds are available just prior to reaching the toll booths. Birders can pay the toll and then drive the bridge back and forth a few times for one fee by utilizing these turnarounds. This gives you an opportunity to switch drivers, too, to share the experience. 

Alternatively, you can charter a boat from Lynhaven Inlet to bring you to each individual island to browse the jetty at your leisure.

Northern Gannet, Double-crested and Great Cormorants, King and Common Eiders, Red-breasted and Common Loons, Purple Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone, various scoters and sea ducks,  various gulls, vagrant passerines

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel project is a four-lane 20-mile-long vehicular toll crossing of the lower Chesapeake Bay. The facility carries US 13, the main north-south highway on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, and provides the only direct link between Virginia’s Eastern Shore and south Hampton Roads, Virginia.

The crossing consists of a series of low-level trestles interrupted by two approximately one-mile-long tunnels beneath Thimble Shoal and Chesapeake navigation channels. The manmade islands, each approximately 5.25 acres in size, are located at each end of the two tunnels. There are also high-level bridges over two other navigation channels: North Channel Bridge and Fisherman Inlet Bridge.

Finally, between North Channel and Fisherman Inlet, the facility crosses at-grade over Fisherman Island, a barrier island that includes the Fisherman Island National Wildlife Refuge administered by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Toll collection facilities are located at each end of the facility. 

Note: Most of the noteworthy species recorded on this hotspot are from checklists that were logged before heightened security measures limited the ability of birders to stop on the individual islands.