
Bombay Hook, May 19, 2014
ML Birders traveled to Delaware to visit Bombay Hook NWR on a beautiful day, sunny with temperatures ranging from 50-70 degrees.

ML Birders traveled to Delaware to visit Bombay Hook NWR on a beautiful day, sunny with temperatures ranging from 50-70 degrees.

It was a cloudy, foggy morning temperatures in the 60 degree range until about 10:30 then, sun in and out with temperatures climbing into the 80s.

It was a beautiful sunny day when the ML Birders visited Dorothy, where they enjoyed a colony of Red-headed Woodpeckers. They also visited Estell Manor park for migrants, and Tuckahoe state WMA for water birds.

It was a sunny, very cold day with the temperature about 32 degrees!

A partly sunny day with temperatures in the 50 degree range and a strong northwest wind.

A cold, sunny day with temperatures below freezing, a north west wind, 10-15 miles an hour.

A beautiful sunny day, temperature around 50 F. with a strong, southwest wind.

16 birders traveled about 80 miles (almost 2 hours), leaving Medford Leas at 7 a.m., to Bombay Hook NWR. The day became beautiful with blue sunny skies and a brisk, warm north-west wind.

Our Pathways trip to the Delaware refuge enjoyed perfect weather and interesting birds.

We enjoyed a very pretty walk through historic Batsto village to the lake, which was mirror-calm. Later, we looked for a Red-headed Woodpecker along a sand road near Chatsworth, but instead found the Pine Barrens endemic plant “Pyxie” in full bloom.

The rain date of Sept. 27 was a lucky, sunny, 65-degree day in between two days of clouds due to Tropical Storm Ophelia. Despite a shortage of migrants, there were some surprises.

A mild spring day with high clouds made for good birding at Assunpink. We made a side trip to Roosevelt, a town with a fascinating history.

For the second year in a row we visited Bombay Hook in November, for a transitional season look at departing shorebirds and arriving waterfowl.

The PPA’s Rancocas Creek Farm was our second short trip of the year, and we combined it with a visit to the Eagles’ Walk Green Acres trail in Vincentown. The weather was delightful with starting temperatures in the mid 60’s into the mid 70’s at Eagles’ Walk Green Acres.

The ML Birders took our first short trip of the year to Boundary Creek Park on a mostly overcast day with temperatures in the low 60’s. The bird of the day based on numbers was the Gray Catbird. We observed a total of 30 species for the morning.

Combined notes from two trips, April 8 and April 27 2022. April 8 was a fine early spring day, while April 27 was very windy, with less bird activity.

It was a lovely May day, with a breeze, blue sky and moderate temperature, and plenty of birds.

Our highly anticipated trip to Bombay Hook didn’t turn out quite as expected. We had hoped to see Brown-headed Nuthatch, but something went wrong, and the little bird was nowhere to be found on Big Stone Beach Road south of Frederica, Del.

The date was late for wintering birds, but early for spring arrivals. The most numerous ducks were Long-tails, with plenty of Common Eiders as well. Flocks of migrating Northern Gannets were offshore. Other winter birds such as Harlequins were not in evidence and presumably had left for their northern homes.

The highlight of the day was the Eagle show — four Bald Eagles (2 adult and 2 immature) feeding and interacting near our vantage on the north dike. One of the adult eagles was kind enough to sit atop a solitary cedar right next to our car, just posing for a close-up.

The date and the weather were right on the cusp between winter and spring. The ML birders were hoping for lingering winter ducks and raptors, with perhaps a few new arrivals.

In the Pedricktown area three Tundra Swans flew over, and we saw a male Wood Duck on the Delaware River. At our second stop at the causeway, to our delight we got some great views of seven Sandhill Cranes!

A pair of Trumpeter Swans has spent several recent winters on the big lake here, and returned this year. Although too far away to photograph, their size and shape made them obvious.

The ML Birders headed down to the coast in pursuit of wintering waterfowl and the chance to see Razorbills that have been spotted in the Shark River Inlet in Belmar.