WEATHER PLANNING, for Osher Field Trip Birding Wed, Sept 30...5:30 am WED UPDATE

We will have our birding class this morning, as the main area of rain moved north of us last night. But do be prepared for some showers. At Cape Henlopen, we have the pavilion to seek temporary shelter under.

From NOAA at 4:54 am Wed: "Showers likely, mainly after 2pm. Cloudy, with a high near 81. Southwest wind around 9 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible."

Radar currently shows some showers southwest of us in tidewater VA.

Bill
5:20 am, Wed

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Bill is on-line early to let you know he is staying tuned to the weather. Click North-east Radar for my main input...... and when you get there, click on the Northeast Loop option for a visualization on how fast the rain is moving toward us....or away from us :)

I will be back on-line this evening with an update....which may include a decision on tomorrow. So stay tuned. If I can not make a decision tonight, I will make one before 6 am tomorrow.

Water for birds when it is dry

Winds have been strongly from the east, but on land, our environment has been very dry. So a good time to add water to your backyard bird "feeding" menu. Details to follow, but below are a few pics from this afternoon in our backyard with our water feature.......and the Bluejays always win the bird bathing contests :)

Wed 9-16-2015 Osher Field Trip to Cape Henlopen

Fall Migration is Peaking!!!

This last cold front has both woodland migrants and raptors moving. At the Hawk Watch at Cape Henlopen yesterday, when I left at 2:15 pm, the tally was 124 raptors, mostly Osprey, but also 2 Bald Eagles, about 1 doz Kestrels and 4 Merlins, plus a few Sharp-shinned Hawks.

At our backyard bird creeks and misters the today, I had 5 warblers......Am. Redstart, Worm Eating, Parula, Nashville and Magnolia, plus several Red-eyed Vireos.....and I was only watching for about 1 hour.

So I encourage you to make our class field trip tomorrow.....The birds are coming, look busy :)

One of Bill's Favorite Gulls

For our Osher class this past Wed, YES, I did make some disparaging comments about gulls in general, but then when asked why? I said my main issue is with BIG "landfill gulls" that often raid the nests of smaller birds, such as Piping Plover, and also poop all over walkers on the boardwalks, passengers on the ferries, customers at MacDonald's, ETC.

So what are some of the gulls I like? Well how about this juvenile Black-legged Kittiwake? It is a sharp looking small gull that as far as I know does not harass other birds. Pic taken by me in Alaska, but they do occur in DE.....and I almost forgot to add, my boat is named the Kittiwake :)

OLLI Birding Field Trip Report for 9/9/15 at Prime Hook NWR

Some really good birds today, but boy was it hot and humid!!! My favorites today were the group of about 8 Wild Turkeys as we left the Headquarters area, the very close 10 or so Glossy Ibis along Prime Hook Road, and the distant 10 White Pelicans along the same stretch of road. We also saw as many Snowy and Great Egrets as I have seen recently. My estimate viewed from the Boardwalk trail was 1,200+ of the two combined.

Our shorebird count was good with Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs (the last being very distant), Spotted Sandpiper, Sanderling, Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover and Black-bellied Plover.

Also excellent views of Caspian and Forster's Terns very successfully catching fish. My total species count was 36 species. And please remember that our goal is learning about the birds we encounter, and not recording a big list.

As I said, next week will be different. We will have a greater variety of terns and gulls, so if you are inclined to do homework, study Forster's vs. Common Terns, Caspian vs. Royal Terns, and Ring-billed vs. Herring vs. Great Black-backed Gulls.

Looking forward to seeing most of you next Wed at Cape Henlopen.

PS - To photographers in the class: If you get some good photos on our field trips, I am happy to post them on this blog site with credit to you. Scroll down to July 23, 2015 for some in-flight photos of the same White Pelicans we saw today.

Antarctica

The above is vicariously any group you love. Cadbury, Osher Lifelong Learning, the Sussex Bird Club, Friends of Prime Hook, Friends of Cape Henlopen......

Very special pelagic birds on 8/29/15

The above White-faced Storm-Petrel is a highly sought after bird for dedicated North American bird listers. We saw 4 on Sat morning, 8/29/15, while offshore fishing on the Snow Goose with Captain Ed Sigda, and anglers Michael Fritz, Mike Sigda and me.

Even more unusual, but too far for photos was a White-tailed Tropicbird and 2 Long-tailed Jaegers, one of which was chasing a White-faced Storm-Petrel. Other good pelagic birds included Bridled Terns, Red-necked Phalaropes, and Red Phalaropes. Below are two more White-faced pics, plus a pic of the White Marlin we caught and carefully released.