Wed 9-16-2015 Osher Field Trip to Cape Henlopen

Fall Migration is Peaking!!!

This last cold front has both woodland migrants and raptors moving. At the Hawk Watch at Cape Henlopen yesterday, when I left at 2:15 pm, the tally was 124 raptors, mostly Osprey, but also 2 Bald Eagles, about 1 doz Kestrels and 4 Merlins, plus a few Sharp-shinned Hawks.

At our backyard bird creeks and misters the today, I had 5 warblers......Am. Redstart, Worm Eating, Parula, Nashville and Magnolia, plus several Red-eyed Vireos.....and I was only watching for about 1 hour.

So I encourage you to make our class field trip tomorrow.....The birds are coming, look busy :)

Misting for Warblers and Hummingbirds

Misters are one of the first water products developed by Avian Aquatics back in the early 1990's. Avian Aquatics was sold to Backyard Nature Products in 2003 and they still offer the original Avian Aquatics designs of misters and drippers. My favorite is the Leaf Mister, which is designed to go in a low tree or shrub and wet the foliage, as well as provide a gentle rain shower. This is especially attractive to small songbirds, such as warblers and hummingbirds. Below are two pictures taken yesterday of a Blackpoll Warbler bathing in the mist from a Leaf Mister.

 Beginning to bathe

Dripping wet after 15 minutes of bathing

Class 4 Field Trip to PH State Wildlife Mgt Area

On this May 6, 2015 field trip, I recorded 68 species, so it was our most productive field trip so far, and not unexpected, since we have entered peak migration time. This coming Wednesday's trip to Milford Neck should also produce migrants seen only briefly in spring and fall.

Highlights from our May 6 field trip include: Glossy Ibis - a flock flying over the Grasshopper Sparrow field, 3 Flycatchers: E. Wood Pewee, Acadian and Great Crested........Horned Lark, and best of all, a good variety of "wood warblers": N. Parula, Black-throated Blue, Yel-rumped, Yel-throated, Pine, Blackpoll, B&W, Prothonotary, Ovenbird, and Com Yelthroat.

Probably our best highlights were excellent views of the drop dead gorgeous Scarlet Tanager, and the super elusive Grasshopper Sparrow. We also had many fantastic views of the "Blue guys"....Blue Grosbeak and Indigo Bunting.

Looking forward to this upcoming field trip to Milford Neck.....It is back woods Sussex at its best, and warbler plus shorebird migrations should still be near peak.......

Hope to see you Wed,
Bill

OLLI Field Trip 5/20/14 to Prime Hook WMA and Road to PH Beach

Great weather, great bird songs, and very close shorebird sightings. Prime Hook Wildlife Management Area (WMA) had wonderful songs of at least 3 Wood Thrushes, many Red-eyed Vireos, Indigo Buntings and Blue Grosbeaks. The last 3 were also seen, as was a male American Redstart.

Shorebirds along Prime Hook Road and on Prime Hook Beach were all very cooperative providing great looks. I noted the following shorebirds today: Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Ruddy Turnstone*, Sanderling*, Semipalmated Sandpiper*, Least Sandpiper*,  Dunlin*, and Short-billed Dowitcher. The ones with an * were observed very closely on PH beach. No Red Knots today, but probably next week at Mispillion.

PS - Woodland migrants are still coming through. We had 3 Blackpoll Warblers, an American Redstart, and a Magnolia Warbler all in our Bird Creek in the backyard this afternoon. Below pics were taken this afternoon. Your homework is to id the below birds.

Sep 18, 2013 - Visits to Fintel and Edelen Yards

Misters do work, although the exact timing is up to the birds. Above photos of Black and White Warbler and Parula Warbler were taken about 2 pm today (9/18) as the birds were using the Fintel's mister. About the same time a Pileated Woodpecker visited our yard.

Now as promised this morning, below is the Peanut Butter Suet recipe. Also, the Woobark Suet Sandwich woodpecker feeder you saw is available from Birds Choice, as is the suet for it in case you do not want to make your own.

Peanut Butter 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.

OLLI 5/8/13 FT to Milford Neck

Yellow-breasted Chat, Bill Fintel photo

No rain!!! and even some sunshine and 73 degrees. Our first stop was the "Dog Training Area" where we had good views of many "scrub birds" which included Yellow-breasted Chat, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting and Orchard Oriole.

We then birded the woods along Stratham Lane and Scotts Corner Road where most had very good looks at Black-and-white warbler, Ovenbird, and Red-eyed Vireo. Some of us also saw Northern Parula and a pair of Wood Ducks. One auditory treat was hearing at least two singing Wood Thrushes.

We then birded along Big Stone Beach Road to the end. Best birds were quite a few shorebirds, which included Short-billed Dowitcher and Stilt Sandpiper.

Our counts for today were 68 bird species and ZERO car species. Seeing no other cars in 3 hours of daylight birding along any roads in DE, or the northeast, is truly amazing. For Chris Bennett's maps and tips on birding Milford Neck click HERE and check the 4/27 report.

Next week we meet at Prime Hook Headquarters at 8 am to carpool to the State Wildlife Management Area. From our class schedule: "Walking is easy and tick-free along a gravel road through some very old forest. This is an excellent woods for migrants warblers, and for Yellow-throated Vireo, Pileated Woodpecker and Barred Owl."

Bill

Road Scholar FT to Cape Henlopen and Prime Hook 5/2/13

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 Piping Plovers at Cape Henlopen, Bill Fintel photo

On day three we started at Cape Henlopen State Park at the point which separates the Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. Our goal was to view Piping Plovers at low tide and we were rewarded with very good views of at least two individuals. We also had good looks at American Oystercatcher and Brant, and back at the Nature Center feeder, we saw both Brown-headed and Red-breasted Nuthatch.

From there we went to Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge where many enjoyed shopping in the Friends gift store for field guides and memorabilia. On the impoundments, the numbers of herons and egrets was very impressive, plus we also had very close looks at Dunlin, Osprey, and even a perched Black Vulture.

We went back to Cape Henlopen for lunch, and after lunch we were treated to gangbuster looks of a male Eastern Towhee right next to our bus. We concluded at Herring Point with terrific views of Prairie Warbler, and many people got close up views of a Field Sparrow.

Our tally for this day was 74 species. Weather again was cool and breezy, but mostly sunny.

Road Scholar Field Trip to Trap Pond 4/30/13

Trap Pond, DE State Parks photo

We began our 4-day Road Scholar program at Trap Pond State Park in southeastern Delaware. Temperatures were in the 50’s with light rain falling and a strong east wind. Even so, all enjoyed a pontoon boat excursion on the pond, captained by park ranger Will Koth. Highlights were excellent views of the extensive Bald Cypress stand, and good views of Prothonotary Warbler, Eastern Kingbird, and Osprey.

We had split into two groups, and each group also walked the Island Trail while the other group was on the pontoon boat. On the trail a Louisiana Waterthrush, which a lucky few also saw, serenaded both groups and one group had elbow-rubbing looks at both a male and female Prothonatary Warbler.

Will Koth was kind enough to let us have lunch in the Nature Center, even setting up chairs and tables. From Trap Pond we went to the coast and up to Indian River Inlet, where we braved the cold east winds, but no rain, to see many Northern Gannets, and some Red-throated and Common Loons, Forester’s and Common Terns, and a real treat of a Horned Grebe in breeding plumage.

If you want to view any of the above-mentioned birds, go to:

http://birds.audubon.org/birds/prothonotary-warbler and type the bird’s name into the search bar. It will give you a list to click-on your desired link. Try to find the link that goes to an Audubon page like the Prothonotary Warbler page, and note there are 5 or more different photos from VIREO to view of your selected bird.

Our first day tallied 55 species, many of which we did not see again. I will post a summary of day 2 to Bombay Hook and the DuPont Nature Center at Mispillion next.

OLLI Redden State Forrest Field Trip 4/24/13

Brrrr! Still cold in the morning, like 50 degrees with a stiff east wind, but we still saw many good birds. My tally was 34 species, with 8 species we have not encountered before, so now our cumulative species list for this spring is 89 species. Not Bad!

The obvious highlight today was the Red-headed Woodpeckers, seen at first far away, but finally close through the spotting scope (above photo by Bill Fintel). Other highlights were great looks at 2 resident warblers: Prairie Warbler (below, photo by Chuck Fullmer whom we saw this morning), Worm-eating Warbler, and some  of us had good looks at the Ovenbird.

Our next field trip is to Milford Neck in the peak of spring migration. We will meet at Prime Hook at 8 am to car pool, or if you live near Milford, we will also rendezvous at the Valero gas station just beyond where Rt 1 and Rt 113 merge, about 8:15 am.

April 10 Field Trip at Prime Hook

It was challenging, but it was also very successful. When everyone in a 15 person group gets really good looks at a Yellow-throated Warbler, that is just great. It is a very beautiful, and very uncommon bird in our area.

I also enjoyed my first singing Purple Martins, plus almost overwhelming numbers of singing Field and Chipping Sparrows, great looks at Pine Warblers, male and female, lots of woodpeckers, mostly Downy and Red-bellied, but also a loud but unseen Pileated Woodpecker.

We had a total of 39 species again on this field trip, which brings our 3 field trip total to 81 species. Just wait, in the peak migration in May, we should get close to 100 species in just one field trip.

PS - Post below has directions to Redden State Forrest for April 24.

Spring Migration

What a great time of year to be outdoors. I went to Prime Hook this morning to check out birds that have recently arrived there. I was happy to locate 3 singing Yellow-throated Warblers, and we will certainly try to see at least one on tomorrow's OLLI field trip. Other recent arrivals, both very vocal, were Chipping Sparrows, and Brown Thrashers. Additionally, the numbers of singing Pine Warblers and Field Sparrows has dramatically increased.

What I did not locate was an early Ovenbird, or Blue-gray Gnatcatcher .....maybe by tomorrow with it being 82 degrees today....... and I know you know (if you have been paying attention in class), they migrate at night, and tonight has all the earmarks of being a good migration night. Want to get really into bird migration science and prediction? Visit woodcreeper.com

See you tomorrow.
Bill

Oct 17 Field Trip Report

More Yellow-rumped Warblers than you have probably ever seen in a whole year, and also some very good birds seen very well, like Swamp Sparrow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Kestrel, Horned Grebe, Northern Shovellar and Belted Kingfisher.

Weather today was amazing, and fall colors were peaking. Plus I know from overheard discussions, that the social aspect of OLLI was also being fulfilled.

Sparrows? They were not evident in any numbers yet, but we will keep tracking them. Our next field trip is to Gordon's Pond. The trail there goes through a maritime forrest, and the pond usually holds good shorebirds and waterfowl.

Sally and I look forward to good birding with you next Wed.

Gardens are also for the birds

Bay breasted Warbler in backyard bird creek

Enjoying and learning about birds can take place in your own backyard. Water will attract some of the more unusual species, such as the above Bay-breasted Warbler, but even the more common species can be studied more thoroughly so you learn their behavior, call notes and songs, food preferences, etc.