Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, Delaware

As in the last 2 years, I finish my trip to West Virginia by traveling down to Delaware, to spend a few days at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge. This year, Bombay Pork is celebrating its 75th anniversary. A few facts about the refuge from the government's brochure: " Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge was est. March 16, 1937 as a resting and feeding area for migratory and wintering waterfowl. The refuge was purchased from local landowners would Federal duck stamp funds. Today the refuge totals 15,978 acres".




"On April 1, 1938, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) based at Leipsic started work on the refuge. The CCC constructed dikes, buildings, water control structures and impoundments. The CCC built Raymond Pool, removed timber from Shearness and Finis swamps, transplanted 300 ash trees, built a 99 foot look-out tower and a boat house, ran ditches for mosquito control, and conducted various wildlife surveys. The camp ended March 18,1942."



The Allee House at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge stands today, as it did in the eighteenth century, overlooking the fields and marshes of Kent County. It is one of the most handsome and best preserved examples of an early brick farmhouse in Delaware.

The Allee House was built about 1753 by Abraham Allee, the son of John Allee, a Huguenot refugee from Artois, France.



The refuge offers visitors a 12-mile auto tour, five walking trails, 3, observation towers, wildlife photography, hunting opportunities, along would a variety of nature educational programs, and interpretive displays.



After my son and I arrived and it's checked into the Holiday Inn Express in Dover, Delaware. We drove to the refuge and started our first drive around the loop. My first trip with many stops to take photographs took us around 4 hours. The next day we arrived just after sunrise and the first loop took us over 5 hours.



After we finished that loop, we traveled down to Little Creek, because it was a high moon tide, the check on the horseshoe crabs and to see what, if any, shorebirds were there. Because of the flooding that had taken place, because of the moon tides the road was in poor shape, but with my Sunday Santa Fe at all will/four-wheel drive, we had no problem traveling down the road. We saw a a large amount the hostile crabs scattered all over the shoreline, and many different species of gulls feeding, but only a few shorebirds were present.



After a short break and a rest at the motel, we again did a loop around the refuge. The next day, we again did two loops, one in the morning and one in the afternoon to evening. The afternoon/evening trip was an adventure due to intermittent rain, hot, no wind, and a huge number of biting insects that "ate us alive.," Despite insect repellent.



It was raining every last day and so we just gathered up our belongings and started the journey home.



Bombay Hook is great to visit for birding and photography in both the spring and fall, during migration and in the winter, when the snow geese come to winter over.

Eastern Kingbird

American Avocet



Great Egret

Bald Eagle - 2nd Year

Great Egret

Great Egret

Blue Grosbeak

Willet

Great Blue Heron

Blue Grosbeak

Short-billed Dowitcher

Great Egret - breeding colors

Raccoon

For Addional photographs go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/photobee1/sets/72157624001437150/

Florida - the Last Day

I started the last day photographing in Florida by taking pictures of the sunrise over Tampa Bay. Beside just the sunrise, I obtained a picture of a great blue heron silhouette in the early morning light.

We then went back to north beach at Fort de Soto and obtain more pictures of the reddish egret fishing. Black-bellied plovers were roaming the shoreline and double crested Comerants were fishing. We met another photographer Rosemary Harris who now lives in Florida but is from Canada who recommended that we go back down the beach to obtain photographs of the long-billed Curlew and that we ought to make a trip to the Boyd Hill Nature Preserve since there is a Groove-billed Ani there who loves to be photographed.

black-bellied plover

black-bellied plover in transitional plumage

reddish egret feeding dance

"skipping through the water"

double crested Comerants eating a fish

We did locate the long-billed Curlew and I just sat in the wet sand and let the bird come to me rather than trying to chase the bird down the beach. Most of the time sitting on the beach and remaining relatively still, the shorebirds and other birds will walk right past you allowing you to obtain the photographs that you want. Besides the Curlew pictures, I obtained pictures of laughing gulls courtship and mating rituals.

Long-billed Curlew within itch

Long-billed Curlew eating a crab

laughing gulls courtship

laughing gulls mating

We then traveled to the Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, which is situated within the city of St. Petersburg and is a city park. The preserve is in unsung sanctuary of 245 acres with 3 miles of trails and boardwalks. It contains hardwood hammocks, sand pine scrub, pine flat-woods, willow marsh and a shoreline on Lake Maggiore. There is an entrance fee of $3. At the education center, the people they knew by looking at us and our cameras that we wanted to find the groove-billed ani and very kindly gave us a map with directions on where to find it. Walking down to where the ani was, did come across the raccoon looking for food in the stream and lent itself to a picture.

raccoon in the stream

raccoon

We did meet a birder who traveled with us looking for the ani. By utilizing a call, the ani came right out and looked at us saying okay kick up some food for me. It has learned that people walking on the scrub get insects to move and therefore making it easier to obtain a meal. While we were photographing the ani we were joined by two more birders, who were there also to get a look at the ani. One of the new birders was from Cape Cod and I believe we had previously met onto Brookline bird club pelagic trip. A crow, also learned that food would be kicked up and came down to join the ani in eating.

groove-billed ani

American Crow

the group looking at the ani-picture taken by Ken Blye

water hyacinth there are many other other objects to look at at the Boyd Hill Nature Preserve

old stone bridge

I would recommend the Boyd Hill Nature Preserve as a place to visit when you are in the St. Petersburg area. It is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 AM to 7 PM, Saturday 7 AM to 6 PM and Sunday 10 AM to 6 PM. It is closed on Monday.