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