Jul 12 2009
Approaching Fowler Beach this morning, I glanced at the interpretive sign declaring it a Horseshoe Crab sanctuary. I thought back to the height of the crab spawning in May and thought how much more placid things felt now, as the frenzied activity of spring slowly melted into the comparative quiet of midsummer. It would be [...]
Nov 17 2008
A strange thing happens within birding circles–a rare bird can go from a point of pride to a source of a certain kind of shame. Up until this year, having seen a Cave Swallow in Delaware was a distinction that would have produced at least low-level envy among many in this community. Now, it’s rapidly reaching [...]
Oct 27 2008
We had a terrifically successful sparrow trip yesterday, tallying 14 species of Emberizids (the family that includes New World sparrows, as well as things like towhees, longspurs, juncoes & some of the buntings). photo by Jim White We began at Indian River Inlet, where the marsh was very, very good to us. We enjoyed soul-satisfying [...]
Oct 07 2008
How can we possibly explain the scorn heaped upon grackles? They are so big and beautiful and spectacular–just look at that handsome buck above. He’s splendid, if just a little bit sandy. How can you not be impressed? Grackles do, it’s true, have some annoying behaviors–they’re abundant, gregarious, and noisy; moreover, they steal a percentage of our [...]
Oct 05 2008
If I were to say the words, “Fall Color,” what would you picture? Sugar maples in Vermont? An aspen grove in Colorado? Probably not, I would guess, a saltmarsh in Delaware. Well, here’s a shot I took on Friday (03 October): A pleasant little scene of autumn golds, but nothing that would draw busloads of [...]
Sep 13 2008
Here’s a bird that could really get your pulse racing…a peep that looks basically like a Semiplamated Sandpiper, but with obvious reddish-orange coloration on the face and throat. The hopeful shorebirder might easily be seduced by thoughts of having found a Red-necked Stint, or some other snazzy stray, especially with a couple of Red-neckeds having [...]
Sep 05 2008
Sometimes shorebirds seem so hard to identify; then there are times they seem dead easy. Mainly, we all hope to have more of the latter and less of the former as we go on in our birding careers. Last night, I enjoyed looking at the shapes of some of the shorebirds along Prime Hook Beach [...]
Sep 05 2008
I spent a couple of hours photographing in the Prime Hook Beach/Fowler Beach region this evening. Though I got a couple of OK bird photos, I was happiest with these. If they share a theme, perhaps it’s that they all feature plants in various stages of domestication. Or maybe it’s just the late summer light. [...]
