Osher Field Trip Summary for May 10 at Cape Henlopen

Today we had a very fortunate good sighting of a Piping Plover at the inside of Cape Henlopen Point. The bird was seen well by all through our 20-60x telescope. No doubt even more amazing was a Red-throated Loon feeding right along the beach just in front of us....no more than 20 ft away. We could see the speed with which its well adapted webbed feet propelled it, and it caught a tasty fish right in front of us. A rare birding super-treat I have never seen this well before.

After the Point, we walked the Point road, and the visited the Hawk Watch. Highlight birds were super looks at Pine Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Field Sparrow. We then went to Herring Point and had good looks at an immature Lesser Black-backed Gull. In the woods at Herring Point we had great looks at an Eastern Towhee, and for some a female American Redstart.

Next week we will bird Gordon's Pond.  Shorebirds, Brown-headed Nuthatches and neotropical migrants are our target birds. Hope you all enjoyed today. Bill and Sally

Neotropical Migrants in the Dry Tortugas, April 25, 2017

If you have seen my recent Facebook post, this will be very similar, but this post is primarily for discussion at our first OLLI Birding class, May 3 at Prime Hook NWR.

Neotropical migrants are birds that migrate from the new world tropics to more northern areas of the new world, like the U.S. and Canada. Migration is hazardous, so why do they do it? Breeding success combined with over winter survival is the most probable reason. We can explore that in more detail Wednesday. But for now, a few pics from Fort Jefferson on Garden Key in the Dry Tortugas. (Click on images for a larger version).

The Dry Tortugas

First my good news. I recovered from pneumonia in time to take the last 10 days of our trip to Key West and the Dry Tortugas. Below is one of my best bird pics taken with an underwater camera. These Brown Noddy's were 3 ft over my head while I was snorkeling.

Looking forward to our first class May 3 at Prime Hook. For our class time we will focus on the challenges of bird migration, and why they do it anyway.

No Birding Class today

You should have gotten an email from Renee, but in case you did not here it is again.

Osher Spring Birding in the Field and Classroom

All classes will begin at 8 am and end by 11 am. The meeting locations are shown below. We are trying to arrange for a suitable meeting room at the locations, but in some instances we may have the classroom session outdoors, and on some days we may not have a classroom session. Be sure to check Bill’s blog for any last minute instructions or change in plans. He will update it by 6 am on the day of a class.   https://billfintel.blogspot.com/

April 12 – Cape Henlopen Nature Center (park tag req’d)

April 19 and 26 – NO CLASS

May 3 – Prime Hook NWR Headquarters

May 10 – Cape Henlopen Nature Center (park tag req’d)

May 17 – Gordon’s Pond Parking Lot (park tag req’d)

May 24 – Prime Hook NWR Headquarters. From there we will carpool to the DuPont Nature Center at Mispillion . If you wish to join the group at Mispillion, please make prior arrangements with Sally.

Be sure to bring binoculars, a hat and rain repellent jacket. Water, a snack, insect repellent and long pants are all recommended.

If you are unable to attend a class, please contact Sally or Bill so we can contact someone on the Wait List.

Thinking Fishing 2017

What better subject can 3 penguins be thinking about than fishing?

Me, Ed and Mikey.

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.