OLLI Fall 2017 Birding Class Schedule

OLLI Fall 2017 Birding Class Schedule

General – Wear comfortable walking shoes as we may walk on level ground up to 1 mile. Bring binoculars, a scope if you have one, a hat, sunscreen, insect repellent, a snack and something to drink. Also come prepared for windy cool weather and a shower. If significant rain is forecast the class will be cancelled. See http://billfintel.blogspot.com/ for any last minute notices. If the weather looks iffy, Bill will post the class status at the latest by 6 am on the day of the class.

All classes begin at 8 am at the location specified below. A State park sticker or entry fee is required for Cape Henlopen, Gordon’s Pond and Indian River Inlet.

Climate Change as it affects birds will be covered on our walks, plus Bill’s blog.

Oct 11 – Cape Henlopen State Park Seaside Nature Center

We will bird the feeders and trail at the Nature Center, then go to the Point parking lot, then the Hawk Watch, and if time permits, Herring Point.

Oct 18 – Fintel’s Home, Mill Pond Acres, Lewes

At the Fintel’s home we will review plantings for birds, water features for birds, and bird feeder designs, plus choosing birdseed and suet. Next we will go to Oyster Rocks Road, and perhaps one or more other seldom travelled back roads.

Oct 25 – Prime Hook NWR Headquarters

This is a prime time for early waterfowl, late shorebirds, and sparrows.  All can be challenging, but also lots of fun, and a great beginning to winter.

Nov 1 – NO CLASS

Nov 8 – Gordon’s Pond

Meet at the Gordon’s Pond Pavilion. This is accessed by going north through the town of Rehoboth Beach at the end of Ocean Drive. There is about a one-mile long trail that borders the pond and ends at an elevated observation platform. The trail also passes through some unique maritime forest.

Dec 13 – Indian River Inlet, Main parking lot just south of the inlet.

Park as close to the inlet and the ocean as you can. This is one of our favorite destinations for winter birding, BUT it can be cold and windy so come dressed warmly. We will be looking for sea-ducks, loons, Gannets, Bonaparte’s Gulls, Purple Sandpipers, and others.

Fall 2017 plans are about to be unveiled

Status - Osher Field Trip on Wed, May 24, to Mispillion Inlet

Wed 5:30 am - Radar shows the rain is mostly past so we are a GO this morning. The winds are pretty stiff from the northeast and temps will only be in the mid 60's so DRESS WARMLY..... and just in case, be prepared for a sprinkle.

Reminder, meet at the Prime Hook headquarters at 8 am. We will then carpool to Mispillion and the DuPont Nature Center. We will make a few stops along the way at Slaughter Beach.

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

Tue 3:30 pm - Right now this trip looks like a GO. We are forecast to get a lot of rain overnight, and some may linger past 8 am, but since we will be in our cars a lot, and also have the shelter of the DuPont Nature Center, I really think we will be okay.....BUT please check this blog site just after 6:00 am tomorrow for the latest update in case the weather is not as forecast right now. Bill

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.