The Nature of Delaware

By Joe Sebastiani, Members Program Team Leader

This past Saturday, while birding along Port Mahon Road near Little Creek, DE, I came upon a blinged-out Ring-billed Gull.  It stood out among the hundreds of Laughing Gulls, Ruddy Turnstones, Dunlin, and Horseshoe Crabs because of a large pink tag on either side of its body.

Knowing that I had to read the markings on the wing, I studied the tag and saw that it read “A5″.  I also snapped a photo, determined to find out where this bird came from. 

Ring-billed Gull "A5" along the Delaware Bay at Port Mahon Road, Little Creek, DE.

A quick internet search showed that a study is taking place in Massachusetts focusing on Ring-billed, Herring, and Great Black-backed Gulls.  I emailed the project coordinator, and received a quick response.  “A5″ was banded March 26, 2008 in Worcester, Mass, captured by using a rocket net baited with bread and crackers.  (The staple of every gull for generations.)

Since that time, it has been reported a few times.  May 4, 2008 in Portland Maine; May 20, 2008 in Lynn, Mass; May 30, 2008, again in Lynn, Mass; and July 15, 2008, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.  The next report of “A5″ was mine, last Saturday, May 9, 2009 near Little Creek, DE. 

If you see a wing-tagged gull, you can report your sighting to ken.mackenzie@state.ma.us.  Keep your eyes out!

Upcoming programs with the Delaware Nature Society include:  Evening Walk Series, various dates; Birding Series, various dates; Comparative Wildlife Anatomy, May 15; King Ranch Grassland Birds, May 27; Bird Nest Biology at Bucktoe, May 27; Reptile and Amphibian Foray, May 29; and Shorebird Migration and Horseshoe Crabs on the Delaware Bay, May 30.  See www.delawarenaturesociety.org for registration information.

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By Derek Stoner, Education Program Assistant

A young Cooper's Hawk perched on the Bombay Hook sign.

Delaware’s place in the world of birding is legend:  people from all over the world visit our marshes, fields, and forests to watch birds.  One of the most famous locations is Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge.

St. Ann's students line up to watch Purple Martins, Barn Swallows, and other birds around the visitor center.

A Black-necked Stilt searching for food along the water's edge.

A Great Egret wades the marsh in search of fish.

A Great Blue Heron with a freshly-speared shad.

To cap off  the great sightings, the  symbol of America showed up: a Bald Eagle!  Perched atop a dead tree, the eagle surveyed its territory.  For many of the students and adults, this is the first eagle they had ever seen!

An adult Bald Eagle is king of the marsh.

We thank the St. Ann’s students for being wonderful learners and sharing the joy of watching birds.  May you all see  many more eagles in your future!

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By Jason Beale, Manager of the Abbott’s Mill Nature Center

Reproduction is a major theme for wildlife in the spring and the signs are everywhere if you take the time to look.  It also helps to have knowledgeable neighbors to tip you off to interesting happenings.  Paul Layton, a longtime Abbott’s Mill Nature Center volunteer, called me this morning to report nesting Black Vultures and breeding Eastern Spadefoots. 

Woodland vernal pool with buttonbush

Eastern Spadefoots are toad-like amphibians are immediately recognizable by the yellowish lines along the back and distinct “cat’s eye” with a vertical or diamond-shaped pupil.  They also possess a unique sickle-shaped “spade” on the inside of their hind feet.  They use the spade to dig into the sandy substrates near ephemeral wetlands that comprise their habitats.  This morning, they were singing in a flooded corner of a farm field and in a series of wooded vernal pools. The Eastern Spadefoot is an explosive breeder following periods of heavy rains from spring through fall.  Due to the unpredictable nature of their breeding and their underground lifestyle, I consider any encounters very special.

Eastern Spadefoots mating in a flooded ditch

Spadefoots mate using an embrace called inguinal amplexus, grasping the female behind the waist, but in front of the hind legs.  While embraced, she lays eggs on submerged vegetation.  The eggs hatch in a few days and the development of tadpoles is also rapid with metamorphosis occurring in just a few weeks.  This is essential as breeding pools can dry up quickly.

Inguinal amplexus

 Leaving the Spadefoots behind, Paul took me to an old barn on his property where he has suspected nesting of Black Vultures.  They are ”B-List” species for the 2nd Delaware Breeding Bird Atlas and any documentation of nesting activity is highly sought.  As we approached the barn, a Vulture popped up out of the hole in the roof and flew to a nearby perch. 

Black Vulture nest site

Taking advantage of the vacant nest, we headed in and discovered a single egg.  Nest may be too strong a word as the eggs, usually two, are simply laid on the ground.  However, Black Vultures can be fairly aggressive and make a variety of noises which are probably enough to ward of would-be nest robbers.  

Black Vulture "nest". Note whitewash throughout. It didn't smell great.

The large egg, almost 3″x2″, is incubated by both sexes for 32-39 days.  The young leave the nest around 10-11 weeks, but are dependent on their parents for another two months.

Black Vulture egg

Back at the Nature Center, I came across a female Brown-headed Cowbird laying an egg in a Barn Swallow nest.  While this nest parasite (a bird that lays it’s egg in another bird’s nest) isn’t a favorite among many birders, it was another nest confirmation for the Breeding Bird Atlas.

For more info on amphibians and nesting birds, check out the following:

2nd Delaware Breeding Bird Atlas: http://www.fw.delaware.gov/BBA/Pages/BreedingBirdAtlas.aspx

White, J.F., Jr. and White, A.W. 2007. Amphibians and Reptiles of Delmarva. 2nd ed. Centreville, Maryland: Tidewater Publishers

Baicich, P.J. and Harrison, C.J.O. 1997. Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University

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Fifth in a series about the Delaware Nature Society trip to Nebraska in March.

By Joe Sebastiani, Members Program Team Leader

“When we hear his call we hear no mere bird.  We hear the trumpet in the orchestra of evolution.  He is the symbol of our untamable past, of that incredible sweep of millennia which underlies and conditions the daily affairs of birds and men.”  By Aldo Leopold from A Sand County Almanac regarding the Sandhill Crane.

With temperatures in the 20′s and winds whipping, we were dressed more for the Sandhill Crane arctic breeding grounds than Nebraska.  In the evening, thousands of cranes, mostly Lesser Sandhills with some Greater Sandhills mixed in, return to the Platte River to roost for the night.  If you are a crane, the shallow water of the wide river is a safe spot to see and hear predators approaching at night. 

As the sounds of distant croaking and trumpeting fill the air and grow in volume, flock after flock pour onto the river.  The partly cloudy day dissolved into a glowing sunset, perfect as a backdrop for the descending cranes.

We were treated to a blind all to ourselves at the Rowe Audubon Sanctuary to closely observe the return of thousands of Sandhill Cranes to their night-roost on the Platte River.

In a blind all to ourselves, Kent Skaggs from the Sanctuary was our guide.  His interpretation of the scene was wonderful.  As the sun set, the cranes kept coming in.  Just when we thought the river couldn’t fit more, the flock kept growing, until the river was brimming with them.  The mixture of the adult’s bugling, wailing, and trumpeting sounds, plus the squealing of juveniles was overwhelming.  We forgot the cold weather and wind as we witnessed one of the most beautiful and dramatic wildlife scenes in all of North America. 

Enjoy this little video clip of the return of the Sandhill Cranes.

Keep posted for the grand finale of our trip…

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By Jim White, Associate Director, Land and Biodiversity

Spring in Delaware is typically unpredictable – this spring is no exception.  After many days of unseasonably cool temperatures, we found ourselves in a heat wave.  As daytime temperatures skyrocketed into the low 90′s, summer seemed to arrive – almost two months early.  I knew that humans were not going to be the only animals to take advantage of the beautiful weather, so I headed to my favorite Delmarva Bay in southern New Castle County to see what frogs were going to be breeding.  As I pulled up to the pool I was not disappointed as I could hear an incredibly loud cacophony of calling frogs.  After putting on the proper frogging gear (waders, headlamp, and nerdy multi-pocketed equipment vest) I headed out into the pool with video camera in hand.  I could identify eight species of frogs calling all around me.  Two species, the Spring Peeper and Southern Leopard Frog, have been breeding since mid-March.  However, several species that typically breed later in spring and early summer were also calling.  These included the Green Frog, American Bullfrog, Eastern Cricket Frog, Gray Treefrog, Cope’s Gray Treefrog, and the rare Barking Treefrog.  Accompanied by a good number of mosquitoes, I spent almost three hours in the two-foot deep pool attempting to videotape the frogs in action.  It wasn’t easy but I did manage to get a little footage of a couple species as they called from the water’s surface.  As you might expect, my “summer in April night” was one heck of a good time.  I will be writing more on Delmarva Bays in a future blog.  In the meantime I hope you enjoy the attached video.

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