Birding on the Coast

Each winter I try to make a birding trip to the Delmarva coast (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia).  There are some birds that one either finds there during the winter or they just don't make it onto the year's list of birds seen.  The weather and the lack of anything pressing on the calendar convinced me that this was the week to do it for 2011.  I usually start by heading to Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in DE and then work my way south as far as Chincoteague, VA.  Let me tell you that it was COLD on the coast, at least on Friday and Saturday.  I stopped at one spot and discovered a group of American coots huddled together in one little patch of almost-water.  They looked miserably cold, even with all that insulation they wear!  And this was before I got to the coast--it was just across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge!

Once I got to the coast, it was still icy.  This was the view of the ocean from Rehoboth Beach, DE near the end of the day. 

The birding was good though--85 species for the weekend, which I consider acceptable for this weekend in the winter.  One species I was pleased to find was the horned lark.  This was the best I could do taking their photo.  Click on the photo for a better look at them.  They're rather cute!

One reason I couldn't get closer was because the prime spot was taken by this chap, and he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon!  I'd love to see his finished photos.

At Chincoteague some of the birds were a little more accessible, but even they looked cold and disgruntled if they needed to be still to fish, as did this great blue heron.

Along my route I pass Dover AFB, and as I went through one of the nearby towns, I saw this sign.

A sign of the times, I suppose, and in this case a happy one.