Tomorrow's Field Trip is a GO....regardless of the weather

Hi All,

Weather looks iffy for field birding tomorrow, but it will be fine for backyard birding from our screened-in porch, and also from our kitchen. If you want a fried egg sandwich, just bring the eggs. I am a pretty good cook

Warbler migration is at its peak. Today, we had conservatively 8 to 10 Parula Warblers, both  m & f Black-throated Blue, a Chestnut-sided with some chestnut still showing, 2 Black and Whites, a Redstart, and whatever warblers I nay have forgotten .
We also had at least 2 hummingbirds today, and a REV  (= Red-Eyed Vireo)

Whether we go on to Oyster Rocks Road will be decided after our backyard birding and fried egg sandwiches, plus weather considerations.

Bill

Wed, Sep 19, OLLI Field Trip to Prime Hook

Mosquitoes, mosquitoes....and more mosquitoes along the Boardwalk Trail. So we retreated to the breezes along Broadkill Beach Road and Prime Hook Road, and were rewarded with many nice birds. 38 species per my count:

Canada Goose
American Black Duck 
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle 
American Avocet 
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Ruddy Turnstone
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull 
Great Black-backed Gull
Caspian Tern 
Forster's Tern
Royal Tern 
Black Skimmer 
Mourning Dove 
Belted Kingfisher 
Eastern Wood-Pewee 
Blue Jay 
American Crow 
Carolina Chickadee 
Carolina Wren
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Northern Cardinal
Blue Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird            

Our backyard bird creeks and misters have been attracting some good warblers, that we watch from our screened-in porch!!! A few notables have been Nashville, Chestnut-sided, Parula, Redstart, Black-throated Green and Mourning Warbler.....so hopefully this coming Wed will still be good in our backyard. 

Field Trip Sept 12, 2018

Today's Field Trip is CANCELLED due to inclement weather.

Dense Fog has entered the picture, in addition to drizzle and potential thunderstorms. It was a tough decision, but birding in the fog is very difficult, and fog also makes getting to Gordon's Pond potentially hazardous. Next week we meet at Prime Hook NWR at 8 am.

Birds observed on 9/5/18 OLLI field trip to Prime Hook NWR

It was a hot and humid morning, with lots of mosquitoes early, but we did observe 35 species of birds, the best ones being along Prime Hook Rd. Following is our list from this morning. The (h) means the bird was only heard, but that is still a valid id. Of course we want everyone in the class to also get a good look at every bird species we encounter. The list sequence is in order of a recent American Ornithological Union's listing of North American Birds.

Canada Goose, American Black Duck, Mallard, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Greater Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Caspian Tern,  Forster's Tern,  Royal Tern,  Black Skimmer, Mourning Dove, Downy Woodpecker (h), Northern Flicker,  Pileated Woodpecker (h), Eastern Wood-Pewee (h), Great Crested Flycatcher,  White-eyed Vireo (h),  Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren,  Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling,  Eastern Towhee (h), Northern Cardinal,  Red-winged Blackbird.

Next week we meet at the Gordon's Pond parking lot north of Rehoboth Beach. Drive to the beach north of the Henlopen Hotel and drive north along the beach until the road ends at the Gordon's Pond parking lot. A DE State park pass is required.