Delaware Ornithological Society

05/04/2026

More Bird-A-Thon week trips coming your way! Join Joe Francis tomorrow for some Cinco de Mayo birding in Old New Castle! Details at the link!

October 16, 2021, Little Creek Wildlife Area with Chris

05/03/2026

Stoked to start off the 20th Annual Delaware Bird-A-Thon with our partners at Delaware Wild Lands, Inc.!

03/18/2026

Tonight is the special meeting at the Delaware Museum of Nature & Science - 7 pm!

Summary: This talk will be held in person only at the Delaware Museum of Nature and Science and will be held in the bird collection. There will be an opportunity to examine actual museum specimens of the different flycatchers to see first hand the issues described in the talk. Few groups of America...

03/17/2026

Join us at Delaware Museum of Nature & Science Wednesday evening March 18th, 7 pm for a special presentation by Curator Matthew Halley on challenging flycatchers. This in-person meeting will feature an opportunity to examine specimens from the DMNS collection.

Summary: This talk will be held in person only at the Delaware Museum of Nature and Science and will be held in the bird collection. There will be an opportunity to examine actual museum specimens of the different flycatchers to see first hand the issues described in the talk. Few groups of America...

08/25/2025

Volunteers needed!

We are looking for volunteers for our upcoming Ashland Hawk Watch. We need coverage on Sunday morning shifts during this fall.

Volunteers will need to be able to identify different species of hawks flying overhead and record the numbers of each one. Individuals should also be capable of walking up and down the hill with equipment.

The hawk watches are often the epicenter of autumn birding in Delaware and on any weekend you will find a good number of birders at the watch sites enjoying the spectacle as well as meeting new and old friends!

If interested, please contact Joe Sebastiani at [email protected]

Find more information about our hawk watches here:

Hawk Watches DOS organizes the two hawk watches at opposite ends of the state. Delaware Hawk Watches DOS organizes the two Hawk Watches that are run in Delaware in partnership with the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife. The Ashland hawkwatch is also run in collaboration with the Delaware Nature So...

08/11/2025

Upcoming field trip:

Shorebirds at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge with Declan O’Neil
August 23
8 AM - 11 AM

Take a spin around the auto loop of Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge to see a diverse array of shorebirds and waders.
We will make stops at Raymond, Shearness, and Bear Swamp Pools to see how many species we can find gorging themselves on the mudflats as they prepare for migration.

We will meet in the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge Visitor’s Center parking lot.

Contact Declan at [email protected] if you have any questions about this trip.

Refuge fees are in effect – $4 per car, or free entry with a 2025-2026 season duck stamp (or other special passes). More info on this can be found on Bombay Hook’s website.

July 24th - Beginner's Shorebird Field Trip with Bob Rufe at Bombay Hook National Refuge

07/16/2025

Field Trip Report: DOS 47th Annual Bombay Hook Shorebird Trip for Beginners by Bob Rufe
Saturday, July 12, 2025

30 observers found 54 total species for the morning, including 13 species of shorebirds, and all were seen satisfactorily by
our beginning shorebirders. Temperatures were in the mid-80s to low-90s with some intermittent breeze, but an uncomfortably high humidity.
Birds were generally distant due to recent heavy rains and resultant high water levels. We did not hear fromother birders of any species sighted today of shorebirds we did not observe.
Thanks to all our participants for their patience and assistance helping others find “target” species, and a special thanks to our e-Bird coordinator for the bird tally report, summarized below, and expert
commentary.

54 Species Observed, 1,025 individuals
Canada Goose: 45
Mute Swan: 9
Mallard: 1
American Black Duck: 4
Northern Bobwhite: 1
Mourning Dove: 2
Clapper Rail: 3
Black-necked Stilt: 18
American Avocet: 1
Killdeer: 4
Semipalmated Plover: 8
Short-billed Dowitcher: 400
Spotted Sandpiper: 3
Lesser Yellowlegs: 150
Greater Yellowlegs: 3
Stilt Sandpiper: 3
Least Sandpiper: 40
Pectoral Sandpiper: 1
Western Sandpiper: 3
Semipalmated Sandpiper: 120
Laughing Gull: 6
Caspian Tern: 1
Forster’s Tern: 25
Double-crested Cormorant: 1
Glossy Ibis: 6
Snowy Egret: 8
Great Egret: 18
Great Blue Heron: 12
Osprey: 3
Bald Eagle: 3
Red-tailed Hawk: 1
Eastern Kingbird: 1
Red-eyed Vireo: 1
Bank Swallow: 3
Tree Swallow: 12
Purple Martin: 40
Barn Swallow: 6
Marsh Wren: 9
Carolina Wren: 1
European Starling: 10
Gray Catbird: 3
Northern Mockingbird: 2
American Robin: 2
Cedar Waxwing: 3
American Goldfinch: 9
Field Sparrow: 2
Seaside Sparrow: 3
Eastern Towhee: 1
Red-winged Blackbird: 2
Brown-headed Cowbird: 4
Common Yellowthroat: 4
Northern Cardinal: 1
Blue Grosbeak: 1
Indigo Bunting: 2

[Photos: group of field trip participants, original artwork from the trip]

07/01/2025

How H5N1 Went from an Illness in Wild Birds to a Global Pandemic Threat | Scientific American

Check out this three part podcast, with mention to work being conducted in the Delaware Bay.

The first hints that a new strain of avian illness is emerging could be found on this beach on Delaware Bay, where migrating birds flock. Here’s what virus detectives who return there every year know right now.

06/28/2025

“Gulls Eating Stuff” - an Important Citizen Science project

Ever wonder if there’s any limit to a gull’s appetite or curiosity? So do ornithologists! Gulls have adapted so much to our presence that many populations are now more dependent on what we humans discard than on natural prey.

DOS members are encouraged to keep an eye (and their cameras) out for what Gulls are eating across our state, and to contribute your observations to this international Citizen Science Project: https://citsci.org/projects/gulls-eating-stuff/

And, if you have any particularly humorous or illuminating photos, don’t forget to send them to [email protected] for inclusion in an upcoming newsletter.

Read more about the project at:

https://www.aba.org/a-new-community-science-project-tracks-gull-diets/

A new community science project called Gulls Eating Stuff invites public submissions of gulls eating anything to help researchers study urbanization’s effects on gull diets and behavior.

06/25/2025

In a week with record heat, and blockbuster bursts of news, our antidote is hope.

Emily Dickinson taught us long ago, “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers.” This month alone, DOS members have:

-Raised over $42,000 in our 2025 Bird-A-Thon to preserve undeveloped coastal habitat
-Watched the successful fledging of two Peregrine Falcons from their Wilmington nest box
-Continued to locate and document the most amazing birdlife in the First State (316 species to date for the year)

For more hope, be sure to check out:

https://earthhope.substack.com/p/hope-not-bombs

https://earthsky.org/space/vera-c-rubin-observatory/

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/collections/142028/poems-of-hope-and-resilience

Stay cool, and good birding!

Poems, readings, poetry news and the entire 110-year archive of POETRY magazine.