My friend and I took a trip to Delaware to go to Bombay Hook and Cape Henlopen State Park on Sunday. One of our goals was to both get a life bird in its northern-most range, the Brown-headed Nuthatch.
The day started off with a bang as we were exiting a highway in Allentown, Pennsylvania. I spotted a raptor perched on a utility pole and IDed it as a possible Peregrine Falcon. We pulled into a parking lot to confirm the ID and take some photos.
We then started our long drive to Delaware. This was the first time I visited the state for birding. After my total of a three-and-a-half hour drive, we arrived at the Nature Center at Cape Henlopen to watch the feeders.
Red-winged Blackbirds dominated the area and were extremely loud at times.
When they quieted down, we could hear a Great Horned Owl hooting in the woods. We did not want to step off trail to find it and instead enjoyed the feeder birds. I took this chance to photograph a bird that I do not see in my new yard anymore.
I also remembered that I have no good photos of Carolina Chickadees and snapped a few of them too.
After a little while more of waiting, the bird we were waiting for finally showed up.
We stuck around to try to get photos of them in a more natural setting, but that proved to be difficult since they would go directly to the thick of trees from the feeders. We had up to six of these birds in sight and calling back and forth at the same time. If you’ve never heard their call, I highly suggest you listen to it on Allaboutbirds.org. It is the cutest call!!
After a couple of hours, we left to go back up to Bombay Hook in search of waterfowl, shorebirds and possible owls. This part of our trip was a little quiet as far as photo ops went. We did see seventeen species of waterfowl and an early shorebird migrant.
Other notable sightings include a Red Fox, multiple Harriers, our first-of-year Gray Catbird and a couple of Bald Eagles flying in the distance.
I won’t leave out some of the more common birds that seem to pose nicer than the waterfowl, which I did not take any photos of due to over-bright lighting and distance.