Blue Grosbeak, photo by Chuck Fullmer, Georgetown, DE
Almost everyone drove to our meeting point at the Gordon's Pond parking lot, except for 3 hardy soles who biked there from Lewes via the Breakwater-Junction trail. We all had good looks at the many shorebirds in the shallow water of Gordon's Pond. These included Least and Semipalmated Sandpiper, Dunlin, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs (mostly lesser), Semipalmated Plover, and Willet.
From a land bird perspective, we had excellent views of some very colorful birds, like Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, and Common Yellowthroat, plus a very unique year-round resident, the Brown-headed Nuthatch.
We concluded our field trip by checking out the Atlantic Ocean beach, where all saw distant Black-bellied Plover and American Oystercatcher. Our total species for this FT was 51.
Next week we will meet at Prime Hook to carpool to the DuPont Nature Center at Mispillion Inlet. There we should get good looks at spawning Horseshoe Crabs and shorebirds feeding on the eggs they lay. Shorebirds should include the endangered Red Knot.
PS - Chuck Fullmer, who took the above photo, is a good friend and member of the Sussex Bird Club. You can view his other bird photos at All Season Shooter.
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