Assateague Island is famous for its wild horses. Supposedly, they come from a Spanish galleon shipwrecked on the island 400 years ago. You may believe it or not, but the horses are there.
On the Maryland side of the island, they roam freely. This is our very first wild horse sighting!
A good chance to see the wild horses, as well as birds and other wildlife, is on a boardwalk trail across the marshes.
First wild creature, the famous Maryland blue crab (seen from the boardwalk, through the shallow water).
Lots of Great White Egrets - standing in the tall grass...
... flying...
... flying...
... and sitting in a tree.
Next is a Belted Kingfisher in a tree.
Our first Bald Eagle, flying overhead... we later saw many more Bald Eagles on Virginia side.
A view across the marshes.
Looking for wild ponies is very much like looking for mushrooms - except, of course, mushrooms tend to stay in one place and ponies don't - but otherwise, you never know when you are going to come across one.
Here is a close-up of this pony, grazing contentedly by the side of the road.
He couldn't care less about us being there.
Here is another one, just walking along the road.
And here we were on a sandy trail near the beach when all of a sudden a stallion and 4 or 5 mares appeared from nowhere... I didn't even have my camera ready!.. This is the last of the mares walking away...
... and the stallion stayed for a few minutes to check us out.
He doesn't look very friendly... Then he neighed and followed his harem...
... and we went swimming/bathing in the ocean.
It was a lot of fun!
Beautiful day overall!..
More ponies sighted in the visitor's center parking lot...
... and this is our last Maryland pony.
Next day, Virginia side of the same island, where they keep their horses away from the tourists.
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Part 3
