Delaware 8/24-25--Northern Bobwhite, Hudsonian Godwit, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Sedge Wren

Brown-headed Nuthatch in a Loblolly Pine

Shari & I spent Friday & Saturday birding in Delaware. On Friday we joined Scott & Linda for the 2nd day of their NJAS field trip. We met the group at the parking lot of Bombay Hook NWR but we immediately headed north to a place we'd never been before--the Aquatic Research Center at Woodland Beach. For the last week or so Sedge Wrens had been reported in a field there and Sedge Wrens are a tough bird to find on the east coast. The only other Sedge Wren that Shari & I have seen was one a few years ago that was in a field at Bombay Hook and that was only a brief glimpse. I've give their little "tick-tick" calls a number of times in NJ, but it still wasn't on this year's list.

It was only about a 15 minute drive to the field and a quick walk out into the field. It didn't take very long for Scott to get a bead on one that was teed up on tall blade of grass. We were able to get great scope views of the bird which didn't disappear as coveted birds so often do. I was also able to get a lousy distant photo of the bird starting my series of distant, lousy photos of birds that continued through the weekend.

Sedge Wren (distant)

Then it was back to Bombay Hook where we spent about an hour at Raymond Pool, sorting through the thousands upon thousands of shorebirds pecking away in the flats. I guestimated about 1000 each of Black-bellied Plovers and Semipalmated Plovers, and maybe 4000 Semipalmated Sandpipers, along with 150 American Avocets (always a highlight of a trip to Bombay Hook). I later saw on eBird that Scott put down 30,000 Semi Sands--which I wouldn't doubt but it did reverberate through today because when Shari & I went back there for one last go around the refuge before heading home we ate lunch next to a large group that was reviewing its morning tallies. The group leader said, "Well, we didn't see thirty thousand Semipalmated Sandpipers, but we did see around ten thousand." 

It was an impressive sight (and one, that sadly, you rarely if ever see at our much-vaunted Brig) especially when a family of Peregrine Falcons swooped through and got all the birds in the air. They flew in a tight ball formation, looking very much like fireworks bursts, changing colors from gray to white and back again. But the best flyover was when Scott spotted a Hudsonian Godwit above the tree line. I got a look at the bird but it was a "if you say so" bird until it turned an flew right over our heads, giving all the requisite field marks. 

The third year bird of the day was back at the visitor's center right after eating lunch when we all heard a Northern Bobwhite calling in the field on the other side of the parking lot. We looked for it briefly but while its call was clear it remained unseen. 

After the trip I was talking to Scott about where Shari & I might bird today. I was a little concerned with shore traffic, so I was certain I wanted to go all the way down to Prime Hook (which we eventually did do today). Scott told me about a place call Big Stone Beach Road which wasn't too far down the bay coast from Dover and there was an enticing rarity to be found there.  But you had to look for it in the Loblolly Pines. I can identify hundreds of different birds but if I could recognize 10 kinds of trees I'd be surprised, so last night we Googled "Loblolly Pine" and found some interesting factoids: It is the 2nd most common tree in the country, out-numbered only by the Red Maple; its name derives from a southernism for "mud puddle;" it is a southern species of pine with its northermost reach being Delaware. 

With that bare bones knowledge we set off this morning for Big Stone Beach Road, found it with little trouble and also found a big stand of the pines. But, aside from a four Blue Grosbeaks, nothing much of interest was apparent. Years ago, when we were in Chincoteague, Shari played the song of the Brown-headed Nuthatch just for me to hear it and inadvertently called one in. These birds like to stay at the top of the pines and can be very hard to see. Today, she stuck her phone out the window, played the song and almost immediately we heard one calling back. Since breeding season is over this is probably only slightly unethetical (though no less ethical than pishing) and I was happy just hear one but then we looked up and there was the singing bird! Above is a lousy picture of the nuthatch and below one that is lousy in a different way. But again, like the wren, we were able to watch the bird and listen to it for a long time while I shot crappy photo after crappy photo.

For the weekend we had 79 species (and two good Indian dinners), added another tree species to our knowledge base and covered a good chunk of the Delaware hot spots. Our list is below. Click any photo to enlarge its awfulness.

Species               First Sighting

Canada Goose   Bombay Hook

Mute Swan   Bombay Hook

Blue-winged Teal   Bombay Hook

Northern Shoveler   Bombay Hook

American Wigeon   Bombay Hook

Mallard   Bombay Hook

American Black Duck   Bombay Hook

Northern Pintail   Bombay Hook

Northern Bobwhite   Bombay Hook

Mourning Dove   Woodland Beach

Clapper Rail   Bombay Hook

American Oystercatcher   DuPont Nature Center

American Avocet   Bombay Hook

Black-bellied Plover   Bombay Hook

Semipalmated Plover   Bombay Hook

Killdeer   Woodland Beach

Hudsonian Godwit   Bombay Hook

Ruddy Turnstone   Bombay Hook

Sanderling   DuPont Nature Center

Least Sandpiper   Broadkill Marsh

Stilt Sandpiper   Bombay Hook

White-rumped Sandpiper   Bombay Hook

Pectoral Sandpiper   Bombay Hook

Semipalmated Sandpiper   Bombay Hook

Western Sandpiper   Bombay Hook

Short-billed Dowitcher   Bombay Hook

Long-billed Dowitcher   Bombay Hook

Greater Yellowlegs   Bombay Hook

Lesser Yellowlegs   Bombay Hook

Laughing Gull   Bombay Hook

Herring Gull   Bombay Hook

Great Black-backed Gull   DuPont Nature Center

Caspian Tern   Bombay Hook

Forster's Tern   Bombay Hook

Royal Tern   DuPont Nature Center

Black Skimmer   Broadkill Marsh

Double-crested Cormorant   Bombay Hook

Great Blue Heron   Bombay Hook

Great Egret   Bombay Hook

Snowy Egret   Woodland Beach

Black-crowned Night-Heron   Bombay Hook

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron   Bombay Hook

Black Vulture   Dover

Turkey Vulture   Bombay Hook

Osprey   Bombay Hook

Cooper's Hawk   Hay Point Landing Road

Bald Eagle   Bombay Hook

Red-bellied Woodpecker   Prime Hook

Pileated Woodpecker   Bombay Hook Belted Kingfisher   Bombay Hook

Peregrine Falcon   Bombay Hook

Eastern Wood-Pewee   Bombay Hook

Eastern Phoebe   Prime Hook

Eastern Kingbird   Bombay Hook

Blue Jay   Bombay Hook

American Crow   Big Stone Beach

Fish Crow   Dover

Purple Martin   Woodland Beach

Tree Swallow   Woodland Beach

Barn Swallow   Prime Hook

Bank Swallow   Bombay Hook

Carolina Chickadee   Big Stone Beach

Brown-headed Nuthatch   Big Stone Beach

Sedge Wren   Woodland Beach

Marsh Wren   Bombay Hook

Carolina Wren   Woodland Beach

Gray Catbird   Bombay Hook

Northern Mockingbird   Bombay Hook

European Starling   Prime Hook

American Goldfinch   Bombay Hook

House Finch   Prime Hook

Field Sparrow   Woodland Beach

Seaside Sparrow   Bombay Hook

Song Sparrow   Big Stone Beach

Bobolink   Woodland Beach

Brown-headed Cowbird   Scotts Corner Road

Common Yellowthroat   Bombay Hook

Blue Grosbeak   Big Stone Beach

Indigo Bunting   Whitehall Neck Rd.