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.

Susex Bird Club Check List for Prime Hook, Oct 30, 2016

About 20 members of the Sussex Bird Club visited Prime Hook NWR on Oct 30, 2016. Leaders were Bill Fintel and Rob Blye. The group observed 57 species, with some highlights being White-crowned and Saltmarsh Sparrow, Winter Wren, Tree Swallows, 9 species of shorebirds, several Bald Eagles, a late Osprey, and a Peregrine Falcon. The complete list can be accessed HERE.

SBC Assawoman Field Trip, 9-20-16, Plans re Weather

UPDATE TUE at 5:45 am:

The field trip is a GO. Looks like we will have some showers, but no persistent heavy rain.  So if you decide to join in, be prepared for showers......And we should never be far from the cars.

Meeting time and place: 8 am at the ocean front parking lot on the south side of Indian River Inlet.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MON about 5 pm: Our Sussex Bird Club field trip to Assawoman Wildlife Management Area is a go IF only showers are forecast (as they are right now). If today's heavy rain continues, and is forecast for Tuesday morning as well, the trip will be cancelled.

So check this blog after 6 am tomorrow (Tuesday) for the final assessment of whether the field trip is a GO or a NO GO.

My latest NOAA forecast for Assawoman is:

Tuesday

A chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 78. East wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Founders of the Sussex Bird Club

This title may become a series, but for now, I just want to honor Alex Summers. He called me back in about 1980, and said "Hey why don't we do a Christmas Bird Count here in the Seaford area?" So we did...unofficially in 1981, and it became part of the Audubon Christmas Bird Counts in 1982 until present. And the Sussex Bird Club was formed in 1982, with first President Bill Fintel.

But now back to the inspirational Alex Summers. He was an expert birder and also a Hosta expert supreme. He passed on over a decade ago, but his many friends and close family have maintained a wonderful web site in his memory. You can view it here at Honeysong Farm.

I have just lost a very close fishing friend, and realize that after 70, our years are limited, but still to be enjoyed, and shared with others as best we can. Below is a relational memory of Alex, Sally and me.