The refuge functions as a major site for observing large numbers of migrating raptors and migrant wood warblers. The refuge has a bird list that comes close to 300 species and the area is a critical staging zone for fall migrants. American Kestrel, Osprey, Cooper’s Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Merlin, and Peregrine Falcon are some of the birds that can be seen here during fall raptor migration. Piping Plovers and Least Terns occasionally turn up here, and Wilson’s Plovers nest on the nearby barrier islands, as do the threatened loggerhead sea turtles. The refuge represents one of the last unspoiled, pristine barrier island/coastal marsh habitats remaining on the Eastern Seaboard, and its ecological significance can only be expected to increase with the passage of time.

This is one of the premier birding and wildlife sites on the Eastern Shore. In addition to a visitor center, that many consider one of the finest in the national wildlife refuge system, the 1200-acre Eastern Shore refuge provides viewing access to significant expanses of salt marsh, grasslands, loblolly pine forests, bayberry thickets, barrier islands, and freshwater and brackish ponds. 

Visitor Center is only open weekends (Fri-Sun) from 10am-4pm. Refuge opens 1/2 hour before sunrise and closes 1/2 hour after sunset. 

Nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay, the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge serves as one of the country's most valuable stopovers for migratory birds and insects. Its unique location at the tip of the Delmarva Peninsula is the final feeding ground for birds and bugs alike before launching their migration over the open ocean. Since 1984, the refuge has been a haven for monarch butterflies, birds of prey, and songbirds as they rest and refuel along their arduous journeys. With woodlands, shrublands, grasslands, saltmarsh, beach, and both fresh and brackish ponds it's no wonder that it hosts 34 mammal species and over 400 species of birds.