Tommorow's OLLI Field Trip to Mispillion

Wed, 5:45 am: The Field Trip is a GO. Fog looks to be the only weather issue. Dress warmly, as we will have a cool east wind.

Chance of rain looks limited, so I feel confident we have a GO. Check this blog just after 6 am in case NOAA is totally wrong with this evening's forecast for Mispillion Inlet:

Wednesday

A slight chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Patchy fog before 10am. Otherwise, cloudy, with a high near 75. East wind 10 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

We will meet at Prime Hook NWR Headquarters at 8am to car pool to Mispillion. If you wish to go directly to Mispillion on you own, please email me or Sally.

Do bring a rain repellent jacket, and be assured that at Mispillion we have some shelter outdoors, and and an indoor retreat with good Horseshoe Crab/Red Knot videos. Now per their web site, they do not open the Nature Center until 10 am, but they like me and Sally, so maybe earlier for our group. With all the recent heavy rains, mosquitoes are out in "swarms" so long pants and long sleeves are also recommended.

This is a highlight trip for us every year. Horseshoe Crabs date back to well before the age of dinosaurs, and Red Knots typically migrate over 9,000 miles a year from southern South America to the Arctic, stopping in the Delaware Bay to refuel on Horseshoe Crab eggs.

Links:
http://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/crustaceans/horseshoe-crabs/facts/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_knot

Cape Henlopen about 1985

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.

Shorebirds Observed on May 18 Osher Field Trip to Mispillion Inlet

Our group of twelve today observed our target bird, the Red Knot, as well as 10 other species of shorebirds, plus delightful views of a Clapper Rail and singing Seaside Sparrow. The shorebirds we observed (in taxonomic order) included: Black-bellied Plover, Killdeer, American Oystercatcher, Spotted Sandpiper, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Sanderling, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Dunlin and Short-billed Dowithcher.

If you add to this the 7 species of shorebirds we saw on other Osher field trips this spring, we had a very respectable total of 18 species of shorebirds for our spring class. The additional 7 species includes: Semipalmated Plover, Piping Plover, Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, and Least Sandpiper.

Red Knots, Mispillion, and weather forecast for tomorrow's class

Red Knots are in!!! And weather forecast looks good in the morning. So we will meet at Prime Hook HQ at 8 am, or at the Fire House at Slaughter Beach about 8:15 am.

I finally got to see my first Red Knots for 2014 last Friday, and they were gorgeous, in full breeding plumage. Looking forward to tomorrow's field trip. Best, Bill