We headed to Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, arriving about 8:00 a.m. The weather was warm, humid, and buggy. No-see-ums were present and hungry. After quick application of bug repellent, that problem faded. As the day progressed, the humidity dropped, a breeze sprung up and the bugs went away.

The tide was out, which is not good for shorebirds, as high tide forces them out of the marshes into Raymond Pool. Furthermore the water level in Raymond has been very high for several weeks so that any available mud was on the far side of the pool so all the shorebirds were distant. Fortunately here were four scopes available! We observed 56 species, perhaps most notable were three rail species, all heard: Sora, Virginia and Clapper Rail. Another interesting observation was the Black Swan, which has been present for several weeks. Black Swan is an Australian species, often kept for display, etc. All North American records have been attributed to escaped birds. We were also treated to a Marsh Wren singing out in the open.

Nest stop was Bennett’s Pier Road where we had Willets standing on posts and singing Seaside Sparrows. At one point, a Sedge Wren sang from some bushes just behind the beach access. A distressing sight was a dead dolphin on the beach. Saltmarsh Sparrows unfortunately eluded us as is generally the case. We encountered a researcher who had gone up the beach and said he saw lots of shorebirds including Red Knot. However, that was a mile up the beech, and both sides of the beach access were posted No Trespassing. We could not see the shorebirds from that point.

The tide was in at Dupont Nature Center so all the shorebirds were very far away. The leader of a Delaware group declared he could trick out some Red Knots, but we were unable to find any ourselves. Another big miss was American Oystercatchers, none observed.

The last stop was Slaughter Beech North. We found a lot of shorebirds, but they were mostly Semipalmated Sandpipers (estimated at 3000) with some Ruddy Turnstones thrown in. But no Red Knots.

Since other beach spots were likely to be somewhat crowded on a holiday weekend, we decided to end it there,= and make for home. While still in Delaware, clouds built into towering cumulonimbus, and we experienced a few heavy downpours. Once clear of the weather, we had very light traffic to across the Bay Bridge, where we hit a back up due to an accident being worked by police on the right shoulder.

We feel we were too late for Red Knots, so next year’s edition will be a week earlier. Stay tuned for details.

Other species noted: 4 snapping turtles, 1 box turtle, thousands of hungry no–see-ums, 1 presumed bottle-nosed dolphin (dead), 1 striped skunk (dead, road kill), in compost fly (photo’d).