April means spring has arrived, although it is rainy and cold as I write this. Still the first migrant warblers, like Yellow-throated Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush and Palm Warbler, have already been reported. This turns birders thoughts to the month of May in anticipation of a true warbler wave, with trees full of warblers sporting their bright breeding plumage and singing their buzzy songs.
 
For DOS, spring also means that the annual Bird-a-thon is right around the corner. For this year's Bird-A-Thon, DOS is partnering with the Sussex County Land Trust to support the protection and restoration of Ard Na Greine (Irish Gaelic for "Sunny Heights"), an 88-acre property that is one of the last remaining parcels of open space in Lewes, DE. See details further on in the Flyer.
 
The Bird-a-thon will take place from May 4-12, 2024. As in previous years, I will support two President’s Challenges. First, I will donate $100 to any team that finds a Blue-winged Warbler. Second, I will donate $500 to any team that discovers a species on the Delaware Bird Records Committee Review list that is not a continuing known rarity. See the DOS website for a list of those species.
 
Please consider participating in and/or donating to this year’s Bird-a-thon. Donations can be accepted online or by a check that you mail in. You can support a specific team or donate to the general effort. All the details can be found on the DOS website.

Drone photo of Ard Na Greine and nearby Great Marsh.
 

For this year's Bird-A-Thon, DOS is partnering with the Sussex County Land Trust to support the protection and restoration of Ard Na Greine, an 88-acre property that is one of the last remaining parcels of open space in Lewes, DE. The property is located on the Lewes-Georgetown trail and public access is planned from both the trail and a future parking area. The project is adjacent to Ebenezer Branch, which flows into Canary Creek and the Great Marsh north of Lewes.
 

Small pond off entrance road.
 

Aerial view of property outline.

A master plan will be developed to restore habitat on the current farm fields and to provide for future passive recreation opportunities. DOS will be involved as a stakeholder in the restoration planning. The grassroots support of the Delaware Bird-A-Thon will be leveraged to help the Sussex County Land Trust raise additional funds from other donors and foundations to complete the $9 million project.

DOS April Meeting: “A lifetime quest to see all the Hummingbirds” by Hank Davis
April 17 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT
 

Velvet-purple Coronet by Hank Davis
 

I became passionate about Hummingbirds on a trip to Cuba with the Delaware Nature Society in 2013. Since then, I have traveled to Ecuador 3 times, Costa Rica 2 times, Brazil 4 times, Mexico once, Trinidad & Tobago once, and Peru once. I still have many more countries to go to. I would love to see all 360+ species but realize that will not happen. There are places where one just does not go to see Hummingbirds. So far, my life list is 160 species, of which I have photographed 149. This presentation is primarily a photographic journey of my quest to see Hummingbirds.

Hank Davis is originally from New York City, but has lived in the Delaware Valley for 47 years. When he moved to the area, he gained an appreciation for nature and open space. Ultimately, this led to a career in horticulture that lasted many years. Since his retirement, he has decided to pursue his lifelong passion in photography. While his primary photographs are of horticulture, he has recently included birds, dragonflies, and butterflies to his portfolio.

Hank also serves the community by volunteering to take photographs for the Delaware Nature Society, Bucktoe Creek Preserve, Longwood Gardens and the Delaware Center for Horticulture.  

His photography can be found on his website: www.harolddavisphotography.smugmug.com. 

Upcoming Field Trips
 

 

Two members of the Delaware Ornithological Society’s Red Knot Youth Birders will be participating in the World Series of Birding (WSOB) on May 11, 2024 in South Jersey. Ellie McDonald and Christian Scheibe, together with their friend Hudson Moore who moved to North Carolina but returns for each year's event, are competing for the third time as the Flying Penguins. The Flying Penguins participate in the Middle School division of the Youth Birder category – which means they are allowed to bird from 'only' 3am to 10pm on the big day. 

The goal of the WSOB is to have fun birding while raising money and awareness for bird and habitat conservation. The Flying Penguins will again be raising funds to support the Delaware Nature Society (DNS) bird conservation efforts.  If you would like to support our Youth Birders you can donate through Venmo (Flying Penguins on Venmo). 

Here is an article on the Flying Penguins participation in the 2022 WSOB.

Don't forget: Conservation Access Passes are required to visit state wildlife areas such as Augustine (including Ashton Tract), Assawoman, Cedar Swamp, and Woodland Beach.
 

Below is the list of candidates for DOS Officer positions that will be voted on at the May 2024 meeting.

Candidates:
President: Joe Francis
Vice President: Scott Northey (returning)
Secretary: Meredith Lewis
Treasurer: Angie Barbato (returning)
Councilor: Marcia Fox

Joe Francis:
Joe is a public health physician, a birder for over 40 years, and a frequent volunteer at the Ashland Hawk Watch. Joe earned his medical degree at Washington University in St Louis and completed his residency in Internal Medicine and Fellowship in Geriatrics at the University of Pittsburgh. There he obtained a master’s in public health in Chronic Disease Epidemiology and conducted NIH-funded research on delirium in older patients. He currently serves as the Executive Director for the Office of Analytics and Performance Integration in the Office of Quality and Patient Safety (QPS) for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Joe will be retiring next year and has graciously volunteered to be the next President of DOS starting in July 2024.

Scott Northey:
Scott Northey joined DOS Council in 2020 and has since served a three-year term as a Council Member-at-Large. Scott played an instrumental role in working with DOS leadership on a successful grant application through his employer, Chemours, which has the potential to award over $100,000 towards DOS initiatives such as youth birding, the annual Wilmington Falcon Watch, and the Delaware Bird-A-Thon. Scott is an Environmental Compliance and Strategy Manager at Chemours’ Chambers Works Facility in Deepwater, NJ. He has spent almost 30 years working in the environmental field in the areas of chemical manufacturing, regulatory compliance, remediation, and sustainability.

Meredith Lewis:
Meredith Lewis is a first-year PhD student working with Jeff Buler in the Entomology and Wildlife Ecology Program at the University of Delaware. She comes to Delaware by way of Maine, where she completed her M.S. in Ecology and Environmental Science. Throughout the course of her career she has worked on a variety of bird-related research projects ranging from rail migration ecology to avian community ecology. She has also participated in a variety of citizen science projects, including the Maine Breeding Bird Atlas as well as Christmas Bird Counts. When she is not trying to discover new things about the natural world in the lab, she loves to be outside looking for the next new arrival each migration season or teaching new birders how to ID species by sound. She is excited for opportunities to engage with the Delaware birding community!

Angela Barbato:
Raptors! Raptors! Raptors! They are what took me beyond backyard birds. I started as a volunteer at the Ashland Hawk Watch in 2012, then joined DOS shortly thereafter and have seen so many amazing things and met so many fantastic people thanks to this membership. Hawk Watch, Falcon Watch, and Bird Banding have been my favorite activities, and now I look forward to taking on a larger role in this one of a kind organization. 

Marcia Fox:
Marcia Fox, the new Executive Director of Delaware Wild Lands – Delaware’s oldest and largest land trust, is a native Delawarean and an alumna of Delaware State University. She has spent most of her career working in the government sector, assisting private landowners and communities with natural habitat management. She has administered several programs related to water quality protection, drainage, and stormwater. She's served as a liaison with state and federal agencies in support of controlling nonpoint sources of water pollution and provided strategic planning, priority setting, and financial and technical support to conservation partners in the region. Marcia resides in Dover and spends most of her time with her family. In her spare time, she enjoys tending to her native plants, preaching to her friends about invasive species, and developing home projects that are rarely completed.

2023 Fish & Wildlife
Volunteer Award Winners

We are happy to announce that two of our most dedicated Hawk Watch volunteers, Sue Gruver and Kim Steininger, are this year’s recipients of the Delaware Division of Fish & Wildlife Volunteer Awards. These awards are richly deserved and both Sue and Kim have devoted years to volunteering for the Hawk Watches and, in Kim’s case, for the Falcon Fledge Watch. Congratulations Sue and Kim. Below are the nomination letters submitted for them by Jordan Brown. 

Sue Gruver
Sue Gruver is one of the Division’s most dedicated and longest running volunteers. Each year, Sue attends a record number of days at the Cape Henlopen Hawk Watch where she observes and records migrating birds of prey as part of an annual survey. Of the 91 days that Hawk Watch takes place, Sue attended 89 days. The number of hours that she dedicated over this three-month project totaled 413 which is equivalent to $6,657 worth of in-kind match which supports federal funding of our landbird conservation projects. Sue’s hours represent 40% of the total hours donated from the Cape Henlopen Hawk Watch.

Kim Steininger
Kim Steininger is one of the Division’s most dedicated volunteers. Each year, Kim attends a record number of days at the Ashland Nature Center Hawk Watch where she observes and records migrating birds of prey as part of an annual survey. Of the 91 days that Hawk Watch takes place, Kim attended 81 days. The number of hours that she dedicated over this three-month project totaled 457 which is equivalent to $7,367 worth of in-kind match supporting federal funding of our landbird conservation projects. Kim’s hours represent 38% of the total hours donated from the Ashland Nature Center Hawk Watch. 

In addition to Hawk Watch, Kim acts as the lead and coordinating volunteer for the Wilmington Falcon Fledge Watch which monitors young peregrine falcons as they learn to fly throughout the busy city of Wilmington. These efforts are made to mitigate vehicle and building strike injuries and deaths among young falcons. Kim dedicated more than 20 hours monitoring this falcon from rooftops and coordinating rescues from the ground. These hours donated an additional $322 to landbird conservation projects.

Wilmington Falcon Cam Update

Our very own Dr. Matt Halley is presenting at Arden this month, summarizing his extensive work to reassess Audubon's scientific acumen and knowledge of American birds and discussing its far-reaching implications for scientists, historians, and the public today. Details here.

- Your backyard bird feeding specialist -


Wild Squirrels Unlimited, We're Nuts Here!

Wild Birds Unlimited-Hockessin 
Open Monday to Saturday 9 am to 5 pm.

Lancaster Pike & Yorklyn Road
Hockessin, DE
(302)-239-9071
www.wbu.com/hockessin

Andrew Dunn is still in the lead, gaining 1 species in the last month. Get ready for spring migration!

Compete by submitting eBird checklists from your own yard. 

Learn more here.