Wild Delaware

It is impossible to imagine the devastation to wildlife by yesterday’s coastal storm that battered Delaware with wind gusts up to 56 mph, torrential rains and severe flooding along inland bays and wetlands. This morning I found a grackle gathering material to rebuild its nest that was destroyed by the storm.

Last night and today has been difficult for much of Delaware’s wildlife. There has been so much coastal flooding along the inland bays and ocean that birds like gulls and terns that nest on the ground have had their nests destroyed. Other animals like fox and groundhogs that have underground dens have suffered from the flooding as well. No doubt, the strong winds have destroyed tree nests of many other birds.

Plume hunting in the late 1800s and early 1900s reduced the population of the Great Egret by as much as 95% but the birds recovered when hunting them was made illegal.

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Here’s a fly you have to like. This long-legged fly is a brilliant, metallic green chromatic beauty in the usually rather drab fly world. And this one doesn’t buzz around your head and bite you but prefers to feed on mites, aphids and small flies.

Do you think this Willet can swallow a whole sand crab? It was quite a mouthful but the Willet could do it.

Tadpoles abound this time of year at Ashland Nature Center and they are easily found in the fresh water marsh there.

You can see the surface tension under the legs of this water strider on a fresh water pond at Delaware Nature Society’s Ashland Nature Center. The front legs of this “pond skater” are short and built for grabbing prey and the longer middle and back legs are covered with fine waterproof hairs for floatation.

A century ago, Pileated Woodpeckers were hunted for sport and food and this crow-size species became extremely rare. They are still very hard to find in Delaware and before this morning I had not been lucky enough to photograph one. Pileated Woodpeckers use their stiffened tail feathers to brace themselves against a tree as they feed. They are more often heard rather than seen as their long drum roll pecking on a resonate hollow limb echos far across a forest.

Not even as tall as a blade of grass, young Canada goose goslings feed on seeds on the grounds of Winterthur Museum this morning.