Bombay Hook 8/27-8/29--Black-necked Stilt, Marbled Godwit, American Bittern, Bobolink

Black-necked Stilt
Photo: Shari Zirlin

Shari & I drove down to Delaware on Tuesday, so we'd be on time for Scott's Delaware trip which met early on Wednesday morning at Bombay Hook.  On Tuesday afternoon we made a quick run around three of the impoundments with discouraging results, which is why Scott times the trips to the tides, because Wednesday morning the shorebirds were abundant in Raymond and Shearness Pools.  

It is dizzying to be confronted with a couple of thousand shorebirds. I can tick off the easy ones--Semipalmated Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plovers, Black-bellied Plovers, and I'm pretty sure those are all Short-billed Dowitichers, but no, hear that "Keek?" That's a Long-billed Dowitcher and I'll let Scott find it, because unless I'm right on top of one, I'm blind to the subtle field marks that distinguish one dowitcher from the other. Same story, only more so, with Western Sandpipers versus the much more common Semipalmated. 

And that's how we spent the first hour or so of the trip. But I did get my first year bird there as a couple of Bobolinks were popping in and out of the vegetation along the edge of the pool. At this time of year, Bobolinks have molted and are not particularly interesting birds, but I'll take it. 

The second year bird was much more exciting.  On the return trip riding along the edge of Shearness, Shari and I saw a big brown bird flying along toward us and before we could get a good look at it, it dived down into the reeds. The whole caravan halted, and Scott came back to say that it was an American Bittern. "What a lousy look," I thought to myself, but as it happened, the bird had landed right where we had stopped the car and someone was able to find it among the reeds--almost perfectly camouflaged, but not quite.  Not only was it a year bird, but it is also flagged as rare, and it was the first American Bittern Shari or I had ever seen in Delaware, adding to our state list (Delaware is #3 behind NJ & NY, of course.) That day we also added to our state list with a Broad-winged Hawk (also rare) seen hovering above the parking lot and, on a trip to Port Mahon Road a little south of the refuge, we saw a Lesser Black-backed Gull, also a state bird. It is surprising that lacunae you can have on your list in a place you go to fairly often.  And of course, we had American Avocets in good numbers and killer looks
at two Sandhill Cranes in Bear Swamp Pool, so it was a pretty successful day. 

American Avocets, Semipalmated Plovers

Sandhill Crane
Photo: Shari Zirlin

Greater Yellowlegs, Sora
Photo: Shari Zirlin

Today was even more productive. After another hour or so sorting through thousands of shorebirds and dipping on a reported Baird's Sandpiper (rare and to me, totally unexciting because of its blandness) we made our way to Shearness Pool where someone pointed out a little bird foraging next to a Greater Yellowlegs at the edge of a mudflat. The little bird turned out to be a Sora, and elusive rail that is always a treat to see. The Sora kept disappearing around a point of grass and no one could get a decent picture of it. Shari, trying to get a better angle, saw another bird standing in a gap in the vegetation, pointed it out to Carol who confirmed her suspicion that it was a Black-necked Stilt--Shari wasn't sure because the legs weren't bubble-gum pink due to it being an immature bird--but still, a year bird and one we always hope to see at Bombay Hook, though they aren't nearly as easy to find as the avocets.

After lunch the tide had gone out, which meant that the shorebirds had dispersed from the impoundments, but there was some action on the Leatherberry Flats across from Shearness. Linda had a peculiar bird but before she could get a good look at it the bird took off--Scott called out Marbled Godwit and I eventually saw it flying and again thought "What a lousy look," but happily the bird set down and, though it was distant, we all get good scope views of it. That was another bird that managed to avoid me this year.  

Three trips to Bombay Hook and an excursion to Port Mahon Road (advice: be careful of the utility pole in the middle of the road) got us 77 species. They were:

Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
Mallard
American Black Duck
Green-winged Teal
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Clapper Rail
Sora
Sandhill Crane
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Marbled Godwit
Short-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs
Greater Yellowlegs
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Royal Tern
Double-crested Cormorant
American Bittern
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Little Blue Heron
Snowy Egret
Great Egret
Great Blue Heron
Glossy Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Cooper's Hawk
Bald Eagle
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Peregrine Falcon
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
Bank Swallow
Tree Swallow
Purple Martin
Barn Swallow
Marsh Wren
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
House Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Field Sparrow
Bobolink
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Yellowthroat
Blue Grosbeak