Wild Delaware

After sunset today I followed a fox as he hunted Canada geese and then mice in a Kent County field. The geese beat a hasty retreat into the sky and the fox came up empty.

Dark dappled gray clouds framed Delaware’s sunrise this morning creating a few minutes of dramatic light before the sun disappeared behind the thick clouds. At Cape Henlopen State Park the World War II watch towers still stand sentinel over the beach by Gordons Pond. A couple of minutes later the sun broke the horizon and quickly faded into the overcast above the waves.

Sanderlings sleep in a row to shelter themselves from the wind on the beach this afternoon in Cape Henlopen State Park. Nearby, another Sanderling forages in a tidal pool.

With a jaunty attitude bigger than his size, the Carolina Wren is large for a wren but still one of the smaller birds in Delaware.

I found a Gray seal pup resting on the beach this morning in Cape Henlopen State Park. Using a long telephoto lens, I kept my distance making sure not to disturb the pinniped. After giving me a look the seal had a big yawn and went back to sleep. I slipped away and gave Suzanne Thurman of the The Marine Education, Research & Rehabilitation Institute a call. Her group will post a volunteer to make sure the seal isn’t disturbed and if the seal is sick or injured they will take it to a facility in the Northeast for treatment.

A young Herring Gull reaches way over the side of a piling in Cape Henlopen State Park to grab a mussel for dinner. Gulls pull the mussels off pilings and rocks and swallow them whole.

Ruddy Turnstones are feeding on the jetty at Cape Henlopen State Park. Here, one flies close by a giant rock.

Two-pair or four-of-a-kind, however you count them these Shovelers rise with the sun for an early flight this morning.

A white-tailed deer makes a big splash as it bounds across a shallow pond at sunrise today.

Thayer’s Gull, Herring Gull or Ring-billed Gull sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between them. Gulls have different markings and coloring depending on their age and the season. This is a Ring-billed Gull with a very “First State” name. My thanks to Jeff Gordon and the other DE Bird folks who help with identification.