Rufous/Allen's in the Snow

She is still with us after all the cold weather and snow. Such a treat.....and a BIG responsibility. We make sure she always has unfrozen syrup in her feeders.

Class Wed, Dec 13, is CANCELLED due extreme wind and cold

Winds Wed are forecast to be WNW 21 to 25 kt, with gusts as high as 40 kt. The High temp is forecast to be 33 deg F. As you probably know, Indian River Inlet is exposed, and usually feels much colder than anywhere else nearby. We wish all a Happy and Safe Holiday. Bill and Sally

A Pic of our Rufous or Allen's Hummingbird visitor

RE the video, I will try again, but I am guessing the video file was too large. So for now here is the latest pic after I set up a mister to get her bathing and fanning her tail.

Previous - Many of you saw this Rufous/Allen's Hummingbird on the field trip to our house about 2 weeks ago. Hopefully the below linked video of this little darling taken today works for you. She really does bring a smile to Sally every time she arrives.

OLLI Birding Field Trip, Nov 8, 2017

The current radar looks good. The chance of rain is listed as 40% by NOAA. So our field trip is ON and I will be at Gordon's Pond parking lot just north of Rehoboth at 8 am. Rob Blye will be assisting me. Sally will be home recovering under the care of a Cadbury home caregiver.

It will be cool and windy, with perhaps a sprinkle, so dress appropriately.

Summary of Oct 18 field trip to Fintel's yard, Oster Rocks Rd, and the Cape Henlopen Hawk watch

On this field trip we observed 45 species, including a few notables such as a Rufous/Allen's type Hummingbird, and a Golden Eagle. The eagle came by the hawk watch late, so most class members had already left. Two other lesser highlights were a Red-breasted Nuthatch at the hawk watch, and a very close and cooperative Ruby-crowned Kinglet on Oyster Rocks Rd.

In the Fintel's yard we had several questions about feeders, so following are a few links:

The Wood Bark Suet Sandwich Woodpecker Feeder is available through Amazon. (click for link)

The Droll Yankee Domed Cage Feeder is also available through Amazon. Remember that the dome on this feeder is not squirrel proof, so it should be protected by a squirrel baffle. Good squirrel baffles are available locally at Ace hardware, etc.

The Humzinger Hummingbird Feeder is also available through Amazon, as is the Ant Trap.

Our favorite suet recipe is:

No Melt Bird Suet –

Sally Fintel and  WildBird Magazine,  Dec. 1994

18 oz. crunchy peanut butter

2 cups (1 lb.) lard – no substitutions

4 cups quick oats

4 cups yellow corn meal

2 cups white flour

2/3 cup granulated sugar

Melt lard and peanut butter together over low heat. Remove from heat and thoroughly mix in remaining ingredients. Transfer to shallow Styrofoam veggie or meat containers. Cover & store in refridge or freeze. Slice and use to fill suet stick, as needed. Birds love this all year round.

Summary, Oct 11, 2017 Field Trip to Cape Henlopen State Park

In spite of the forecast of showers, we had 12 hardy birders meet us at 8 am at the Nature Center. It did rain some, but everyone was prepared....or hardy. Following are the highlight birds from today:
American Oystercatcher
Caspian Tern
Royal Tern
Great Blue Heron 
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Eastern Towhee
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Peregrine Falcon
Merlin
Our total species count was 23 species, which is low, but okay for the weather we had. I will compile a combined checklist for our 5 field trips, and we will review it in our last class.

The major highlight today was a second Peregrine Falcon flying by us at Herring Point with a bird in its talons. Incredibly, this bird escaped letting out a shriek, and it turned out to be a Merlin. The Merlin was VERY mad, and started attacking the Peregrine. Both birds eventually departed looking healthy, although with a few ruffled feathers. The Peregrine was an immature. Below is a picture of an adult Peregrine taken by John Long on a Sussex Bird Club field trip at Cape Henlopen in 2015.

As promised, the link to Delaware Birds
You can access the postings without becoming a member. If you join, the postings arrive in the email address you provide. I have set up a separate email address to receive these, as they are quite numerous.

This is the link to the Wedge-tailed Eagle attacking drones in Australia

6 am - Status of this mornings OLLI Birding Field Trip

Showers are definite. Heavy rain will likely hold off until after noon. So Sally and I will be at Cape Henlopen with rain resistant clothing at 8 am. Class participants are welcome to join us, or to sleep in at home. Bill

NOAA F'cast
Radar Loop

OLLI Fall 2017 Birding Class Schedule

OLLI Fall 2017 Birding Class Schedule

General – Wear comfortable walking shoes as we may walk on level ground up to 1 mile. Bring binoculars, a scope if you have one, a hat, sunscreen, insect repellent, a snack and something to drink. Also come prepared for windy cool weather and a shower. If significant rain is forecast the class will be cancelled. See http://billfintel.blogspot.com/ for any last minute notices. If the weather looks iffy, Bill will post the class status at the latest by 6 am on the day of the class.

All classes begin at 8 am at the location specified below. A State park sticker or entry fee is required for Cape Henlopen, Gordon’s Pond and Indian River Inlet.

Climate Change as it affects birds will be covered on our walks, plus Bill’s blog.

Oct 11 – Cape Henlopen State Park Seaside Nature Center

We will bird the feeders and trail at the Nature Center, then go to the Point parking lot, then the Hawk Watch, and if time permits, Herring Point.

Oct 18 – Fintel’s Home, Mill Pond Acres, Lewes

At the Fintel’s home we will review plantings for birds, water features for birds, and bird feeder designs, plus choosing birdseed and suet. Next we will go to Oyster Rocks Road, and perhaps one or more other seldom travelled back roads.

Oct 25 – Prime Hook NWR Headquarters

This is a prime time for early waterfowl, late shorebirds, and sparrows.  All can be challenging, but also lots of fun, and a great beginning to winter.

Nov 1 – NO CLASS

Nov 8 – Gordon’s Pond

Meet at the Gordon’s Pond Pavilion. This is accessed by going north through the town of Rehoboth Beach at the end of Ocean Drive. There is about a one-mile long trail that borders the pond and ends at an elevated observation platform. The trail also passes through some unique maritime forest.

Dec 13 – Indian River Inlet, Main parking lot just south of the inlet.

Park as close to the inlet and the ocean as you can. This is one of our favorite destinations for winter birding, BUT it can be cold and windy so come dressed warmly. We will be looking for sea-ducks, loons, Gannets, Bonaparte’s Gulls, Purple Sandpipers, and others.

Fall 2017 plans are about to be unveiled

Status - Osher Field Trip on Wed, May 24, to Mispillion Inlet

Wed 5:30 am - Radar shows the rain is mostly past so we are a GO this morning. The winds are pretty stiff from the northeast and temps will only be in the mid 60's so DRESS WARMLY..... and just in case, be prepared for a sprinkle.

Reminder, meet at the Prime Hook headquarters at 8 am. We will then carpool to Mispillion and the DuPont Nature Center. We will make a few stops along the way at Slaughter Beach.

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Tue 3:30 pm - Right now this trip looks like a GO. We are forecast to get a lot of rain overnight, and some may linger past 8 am, but since we will be in our cars a lot, and also have the shelter of the DuPont Nature Center, I really think we will be okay.....BUT please check this blog site just after 6:00 am tomorrow for the latest update in case the weather is not as forecast right now. Bill

Osher Field Trip Summary for May 10 at Cape Henlopen

Today we had a very fortunate good sighting of a Piping Plover at the inside of Cape Henlopen Point. The bird was seen well by all through our 20-60x telescope. No doubt even more amazing was a Red-throated Loon feeding right along the beach just in front of us....no more than 20 ft away. We could see the speed with which its well adapted webbed feet propelled it, and it caught a tasty fish right in front of us. A rare birding super-treat I have never seen this well before.

After the Point, we walked the Point road, and the visited the Hawk Watch. Highlight birds were super looks at Pine Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Field Sparrow. We then went to Herring Point and had good looks at an immature Lesser Black-backed Gull. In the woods at Herring Point we had great looks at an Eastern Towhee, and for some a female American Redstart.

Next week we will bird Gordon's Pond.  Shorebirds, Brown-headed Nuthatches and neotropical migrants are our target birds. Hope you all enjoyed today. Bill and Sally

Neotropical Migrants in the Dry Tortugas, April 25, 2017

If you have seen my recent Facebook post, this will be very similar, but this post is primarily for discussion at our first OLLI Birding class, May 3 at Prime Hook NWR.

Neotropical migrants are birds that migrate from the new world tropics to more northern areas of the new world, like the U.S. and Canada. Migration is hazardous, so why do they do it? Breeding success combined with over winter survival is the most probable reason. We can explore that in more detail Wednesday. But for now, a few pics from Fort Jefferson on Garden Key in the Dry Tortugas. (Click on images for a larger version).

The Dry Tortugas

First my good news. I recovered from pneumonia in time to take the last 10 days of our trip to Key West and the Dry Tortugas. Below is one of my best bird pics taken with an underwater camera. These Brown Noddy's were 3 ft over my head while I was snorkeling.

Looking forward to our first class May 3 at Prime Hook. For our class time we will focus on the challenges of bird migration, and why they do it anyway.

No Birding Class today

You should have gotten an email from Renee, but in case you did not here it is again.

Osher Spring Birding in the Field and Classroom

All classes will begin at 8 am and end by 11 am. The meeting locations are shown below. We are trying to arrange for a suitable meeting room at the locations, but in some instances we may have the classroom session outdoors, and on some days we may not have a classroom session. Be sure to check Bill’s blog for any last minute instructions or change in plans. He will update it by 6 am on the day of a class.   https://billfintel.blogspot.com/

April 12 – Cape Henlopen Nature Center (park tag req’d)

April 19 and 26 – NO CLASS

May 3 – Prime Hook NWR Headquarters

May 10 – Cape Henlopen Nature Center (park tag req’d)

May 17 – Gordon’s Pond Parking Lot (park tag req’d)

May 24 – Prime Hook NWR Headquarters. From there we will carpool to the DuPont Nature Center at Mispillion . If you wish to join the group at Mispillion, please make prior arrangements with Sally.

Be sure to bring binoculars, a hat and rain repellent jacket. Water, a snack, insect repellent and long pants are all recommended.

If you are unable to attend a class, please contact Sally or Bill so we can contact someone on the Wait List.

Thinking Fishing 2017

What better subject can 3 penguins be thinking about than fishing?

Me, Ed and Mikey.

Harbingers of Spring....or Holdovers from Winter

All I can say is that at least 4 people showed up for this morning's Sussex Bird Club field trip with NE winds of 15+ mph and light to moderate rain. We all looked at each other trying to figure out who was the most crazy. I finally accepted the "most crazy" award for naming the field trip "Harbingers of Spring".

In a nutshell, no harbingers of spring were found, meaning no Piping Plover, no Osprey, and no Laughing Gulls.

We did have great looks at many Northern Gannets close inside the point at Cape Henlopen, a single adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, many Brant, several male Red-breasted Mergansers with their crests blown backwards over their heads, and some gorgeous close Buffleheads from the bridge over Canary Creek at the Coast Guard station.

So spring has yet to spring here in the Lewes area.

Please see the Sussex Bird Club website Calendar page for future field trips.

Shorebirds and Horseshoe Crab Connection on DE Bay Beaches

This is a great video

Soon we will be able to experience this special event in 2017.

Prime Hook NWR Birding Field Trip Sun, 2/26/17

We had a good, but COLD field trip with 12 participants. Winds were out of the NW at 20+ mph and temps were in the 30's when we began. Highlights were 110 American Avocets in the impoundment on the right of Broadkill Beach Rd, a drop dead view of a male American Wigeon just off the Boardwalk Trail, an adult Bald Eagle chasing a Snow Goose, 24 E. Meadowlarks with most being along Cods Rd., and amazing views of 2,500+ Snow Geese NW of Cods Rd. Come to find out later, in among them was a lone Pink-footed Goose...a vagrant from Europe.

Many thanks to Sue Gruver for compiling our below list for 2/26/17:

From: ebird-checklist@cornell.edu
To: srgruver@aol.com
Sent: 2/26/2017 12:33:02 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: eBird Report - Prime Hook NWR, Feb 26, 2017

 

Prime Hook NWR, Sussex, Delaware, US
Feb 26, 2017 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
12.0 mile(s)
Comments:     walk for the Refuge, at HQ's, Broadkill Beach Rd., Prime Hook Beach Rd. Fowler Beach Rd.
52 species (+1 other taxa)

Snow Goose  2500
Canada Goose  20
Gadwall  6
American Wigeon  3
American Black Duck  95
Mallard  2
Northern Shoveler  1000
Northern Pintail  112
Green-winged Teal  85
Greater Scaup  30
Surf Scoter  9
Bufflehead  14
Red-breasted Merganser  6
Great Blue Heron  5
Turkey Vulture  10
Osprey  1     flew over our heads on the Boardwalk trail
Northern Harrier  1
Sharp-shinned Hawk  1
Bald Eagle  10
American Avocet  110
Killdeer  2
Sanderling  1
Dunlin  45
Greater Yellowlegs  20
Lesser Yellowlegs  1
Ring-billed Gull  30
Herring Gull  25
Lesser Black-backed Gull  1
Great Black-backed Gull  4
gull sp.  75
Mourning Dove  2
Northern Flicker  1
American Kestrel  1
Peregrine Falcon  1
American Crow  5
Carolina Chickadee  4
Tufted Titmouse  3
Carolina Wren  2
Eastern Bluebird  2
American Robin  35
Brown Thrasher  1
Northern Mockingbird  2
European Starling  65
Yellow-rumped Warbler  2
Dark-eyed Junco  16
White-throated Sparrow  12
Song Sparrow  3
Eastern Towhee  2
Northern Cardinal  14
Red-winged Blackbird  85
Eastern Meadowlark  24
Common Grackle  12
American Goldfinch  2