A Couple Delaware Rarities 2/3/07

Photos: Hans at Broadkill Beach, Prickley Pear Cactus at Prime Hook NWR, Cypress Swamp east of aurel, Delaware

Hans Holbrook and I spent a great Saturday birding in Delaware and we lucked out by getting photos of Eurasian Collared-Dove and Northern Shrike. We left Oxford Saturday morning and drove to Indian River Inlet with a brief stop in Salisbury to check out the lakes by the Ward Museum. These lakes often are full of waterfowl and I was able to get shots of Ring-necked Ducks although the Pied-billed Grebes and Hooded Mergansers were not as cooperative. We then made a stop in Selbyville, Delaware to look for the resident Eurasian Collared-Doves. I just found out about this population of doves. They have been present in Selbyville for at least five years and are said to be the first established population in the Mid-Atlantic. After locating the right street we turned a corner and Hans spotted two doves sitting on a house roof. I immediately started taking pictures until Hans pointed out the cop car in the drive and suggested we should roll on. Indian River Inlet held the usual shorebirds, loons, and ducks. Our next stop was Silver Lake in Rehobeth Beach to get pics of the Am. Coots that reside there in the winter. When we pulled up, the coots were eating on the grass between the road and the lake and I was able to get a few shots. Next stop was Prime Hook NWR to try for the Northern Shrike. This was my fourth trip to the refuge searching for the shrike and I didn't have much faith. Hans and I split up and each took a meadow and after about half an hour I viewed the shrike sitting on top of a small shrub in the middle of the meadow. I ecstatically called Hans and we followed the bird around for about an hour trying to get close enough for identifiable photos. A Great Egret was feeding by the side of the road to Broadkill Beach and I was able to get a great shot of the egret getting ready to land.We then made our way across the state to Trap Pond State Park to do a little reconoitering of the Cypress Swamp. We didn't see any good birds but the swamps were beautiful and we made plans to come back as soon as it gets warm. Getting photos of Northern Shrike and Eurasian Collared-Dove is a real bonus. These are two birds that I did not expect to find when I began planning for the Delmarva Big Photo Year. Just being able to observe these birds on Delamrva is truly special.