OLLI Field Trip at Prime Hook NWR

 To OLLI Fall Birding Class Members,

Today's field trip is a GO, so please meet at the Refuge Headquarters at 9 am.  It will be cool and breezy, so warm, windproof clothes are recommended.  Also, we have had a lot of recent rain, and the ground may be muddy in spots.  Our goals today will be to view shorebirds and waterfowl, plus explore the various good natural areas of Prime Hook, mostly by car.

Here is a link to a Prime Hook Refuge Map, which you may have to copy and paste in to your browser:
https://www.fws.gov/uploadedFiles/Region_5/NWRS/South_Zone/Coastal_Delaware_Complex/Prime_Hook/RefugeMap.pdf

Cape Henlopen Field Trip Summary

On Oct 21, 2021, we birded Cape Henlopen State Park (CHSP) from 10 to 11:30 am.  We began at the Nature Center, where we observed Red-breasted Nuthatch, Yellow-rumped Warbler, House Finch,  and Mourning Dove.  From there we went to the Point parking lot where we had several Turkey Vultures, and two Osprey diving for fish inside the point.  We also had close scope views of a cooperative Herring Gull.  From the Point parking lot we went to Herring Point overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and had good views of several Lesser Black-backed Gulls and could clearly see their yellow legs through the telescope.  We also observed a small flock of Sanderlings feeding on the waters edge.  Our total species count was 14 species.  A calm, warm day and a high tide, definitely kept the species number down.

As a reminder, we meet next Thur, Oct 28, at the Prime Hook NWR visitor center at 9 am.  By 6 am on the 28th, I will post on this blog if there are any changes to that due to bad weather.

Welcome to the Fall OLLI 2021 Birding Class

 This juvenile Eastern Screech Owl wants to welcome you to the fall OLLI Birding Class. 

OLLI Fall 2021 Birding Class Outline

OVERALL

We will focus on bird migration in the fall, bird identification, local birding hotspots, some travel birding hotspots, and we will visit up to 4 local hotspots.  The latter is of course weather dependent.

 

Since some of you may live closer to a field trip destination than to OLLI Lewes, we can plan to meet you at the field trip destination.  This will require some coordination in the class one week before the field trip, or via email.

 

For the field trips, be sure to bring binoculars, a field guide, insect repellent, water and a snack, water resistant wind breaker, and a DE park sticker/pass if you are driving into Cape Henlopen or Indian River Inlet State Parks.

 

WEATHER PLANNING

We will not do a field trip if the weather is rainy or stormy.  You can check our tentative weather plans at 6 am on the day of the field trip by logging in to: https://billfintel.blogspot.com/    If a field trip is cancelled due to weather, we will still do an indoor class of approximately 1 hour.

 

CLASS OUTLINE

Class 1 - The first hour will definitely be at OLLI Lewes.  This first hour will be an orientation and question/answer session re the next 4 classes.  Program options will be presented for class input, so programs for the next 4 classes are right now open pending your input.  The field trip this day will be to Cape Henlopen.

 

Class 2 - Field trip to Prime Hook NWR.  This is an excellent location for migrating shorebirds and waterfowl, both of which will be on the move.

 

Class 3 - Our field trip will include the Fintel’s yard, plantings, feeders and water features.  After that we will visit Oyster Rocks Road and the Lewes Great Marsh

 

Class 4 - Our field trip destination is Indian River Inlet and surrounding dune habitat.  If this and all previous field trips have been a “GO”, we will have a discussion on where you would like to go in Class 5.

 

Class 5 - Our field trip will be any previous location we got “weathered out of visiting”, OR the decision made in Class 4.

 

Happy Holidays to Friends and Family All

 

Saying Goodbye to 2020 is for sure a welcome theme in many venues. The focus of this card is on the plus side of 2020, which largely includes our yard and its colorful bird visitors, plus a focus on many good past memories. 

 

In a short personal recap of 2020, Bill survived back surgery in late Feb…. then Covid-19 became a serious reality in early March. As of now, Sally and Bill plus family have escaped contracting Covid-19. We do know some friends that have got it and have recovered. We also have some friends with family members who have succumbed. 

 

On the bright side of semi-quarantining, our wonderful yard filled with wild birds and other wildlife has really kept our spirits up. Plus, Bill kept fishing from May into November, often taking Sally to view the seabirds and dolphins, and our freezer is now well stocked with fresh fish for winter. 

 

Sally and I do have some fond 2020 pics and some extra special memory pics to share with all. To keep it logistically simple, I have chosen to put the pics up on this blog.

 

With sincere wishes for a Healthy, Happy and Safe 2021.

Much Love to All,

Bill and Sally

 

PS - To view pics full size, click on a pic, it will enlarge and have a pic selection scroll bar under it. Note that the captions are only visible on this home page.

 

Sally and Bill in Antarctica in 2007. This was our first big trip after we both retired.

King Penguins at Salisbury Plain

Bill, Emily, Mike and Sally in the Galapagos 17 years ago.

Son Mike, his wife Angelica, and their two children Sabi and Teo.

Our daughter Emily and children Ando and Sefi.

 Andrew, Emily's hubby and master chef

Father Andrew leads the minnow seining crew

Full Moon Jan 8, 2020. Sure looked like a good start to 2020

 

Spring was colorful with great Azalea blooms

Indoors, Sally has mastered growing Clivia

Backyard birding, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak was our 1st special spring arrival

As an experiment, we put out raisins for the Robins. They loved them!!!

 

A little bit later the resident Brown Thrasher caught on.

And in August, for some mysterious reason, Bill took up mothing. The above is his signature moth, the Black-dotted Ruddy, Hodges # 6711

Now back to our longtime friends, the Screech Owls. They have been nesting in boxes we put up and maintain for about 30 years now. We are sure not the same owls, but interestingly, usually a red and a gray morph. The above composite pics were taken this Dec.

And lastly, plus most special, as of Dec 18 we still have an adult male Ruby-throated Hummingbird visiting our feeders. The feeders are kept unfrozen by taking in at night and out just before dawn. They will very  soon have heaters to keep them thawed all day in below freezing temps.  We know from our neighbor with many Camellias in bloom, that the hummer is also feeding on them.

 

eBird Check Lists for May 22 Field Trip to Mispillion and nearby

Many thanks to Rob Blye for helping lead this field trip and for compiling 4 eBird check lists for the 4 locations we birded. Folling are links to these check lists in chronological order:

https://ebird.org/pa/view/checklist/S56614405

https://ebird.org/pa/view/checklist/S56614931

https://ebird.org/pa/view/checklist/S56620835

https://ebird.org/pa/view/checklist/S56657222

May 22, 2019 OLLI Field Trip to Mispillion

This was our last class field trip for spring 2019, and it was a good one. The highlight for me was a field with an estimated 2,500 Black-bellied Plover along Prime Hook Road. We also saw many shorebirds from the observation deck of the DuPont Nature Center at Mispillion Inlet. Unfortunately that consisted of only about 5 Red knots, that were also far away. Perhaps the main numbers have yet to arrive on their way north. Rob Blye's eBird check list links will be in the next post, and after that I will try to compile one class checklist for this spring.

On the visual side, Steve Walker again got some great bird pics from this past field trip.