A trip with my bird club to Delaware
Yesterday, I went to the Delaware shore with my bird club! We watched sandpipers and songbirds coming to refuel for the last stage of their journey. We went to many places, including Bombay Hook. It was one of the best birding days I've ever had.
The first birds were some grasshopper sparrows that we heard chirping but didn't see.
We started by seeing Indigo Buntings! They are one of my favorite birds.
Indigo Bunting
Common Yellowthroat male
Common Yellowthroat female
After seeing those birds, we went to a nice beach area and saw shorebirds:
Shorebird mix - Semipalmated Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstones, Red Knots, Herring Gulls, and more.
Semipalmated Sandpipers, Dunlins, and Ruddy Turnstones flying
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Semipalmated and other sandpipers flying
Seaside Sparrow - A beautiful subspecies of this bird, the Dusky Seaside Sparrow, went extinct in the 1980s.
Seaside Sparrow
Ruddy Turnstone - A very pretty plumage.
Laughing Gull
Ruddy Turnstone - Very pretty plumage.
We also saw horseshoe crabs scooting around and mating.
Horseshoe crabs mating
Horseshoe crab
Boat-tailed Grackle - See the spoon shaped tail?
Then we arrived at Bombay Hook.
Purple Martin male and female
Purple Martin male
We found a small event where injured raptors were being shown.
Captive Eastern Screech-owl! At one point, the Bald Eagle behind it got agitated, jumped off its perch and tried to fly. Then the Owl was alarmed and it did the same thing. Its wing brushed me on the nose!
Immature Bald Eagle - The one that agitated the owl.
After seeing the raptors at the event, we set out to do some real birding.
Glossy Ibis flying
Glossy Ibis
Marsh Wren - Very hard to see, very easy to hear.
Yellow Warbler
Tree Swallow - Probably on its nesting tree.
Snowy Egret flying - I almost got a good shot of one, but it flew before I could focus!
Snapping Turtle among sandpipers - If the turtle was hungry, it could probably eat one of the sandpipers.
Short-billed Dowitcher
Eastern Kingbird - It was so fast I barely took the photo!
Black-necked Stilt - One of the coolest birds of the day.
Dunlins
Red-winged Blackbird - Interesting posture.
Great Blue Heron flying
Immature Bald Eagle
Glossy Ibis flying
Yellow Warbler
Two blue birds - Blue Grosbeak (front), Indigo Bunting (back).
Blue Grosbeak
Snapping Turtle
A fox holding a muskrat - This fox followed our bus for a while.
Great Egret holding a fish
Bald Eagle
Black-bellied Plover
Horned Lark
Osprey with fish.
Spring migration is now almost over, and these birds won't be here for a while - so watch for more great bird reports this coming fall!
