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.
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.
Salem County in spring can offer very interesting birding; it has early migrants and arrivals, but also can hold on to winter birds.
Arriving at the hawkwatch about 10:15, we found a moderate flight of accipiters underway, with constant Cooper’s and Sharpshinned Hawks in the air…. On our way home we found and identified a couple of interesting caterpillars.
Two trips in one – a scouting run and a fall field trip, in shorebird season.
A great day of bird photography at the rookery.
The ML Birders headed out to Belleplain State Forest on a gray and blustery day hoping to see some early arriving warblers. The birding gods were conspiring against them!
Mannington Marsh, the tidal estuary of the Salem River, is a beautiful place to look for waterfowl and early spring migrants.
A beautiful day, with thousands of Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) Warblers and plenty of hawks to watch.