Wild Delaware

I spent an hour yesterday afternoon with the Goldfinches that I have shot twice recently. Their bright yellow color and jaunty attitude make them a favorite for me. Here is a male (right) and female.

Could the devil himself design a more annoying, bloodthirsty creature? I know the greenhead fly has an important role in the life of our salt marshes. And I also know this abundant and persistent female has a powerful and painful bite. Thousands of emerald eye facets give the greenhead fly a visual advantage in tracking its target. It bites the victim with scissor-like mouthparts that tear flesh and suck blood. Young adult females lay their first egg mass of 100 to 200 eggs without seeking blood. Then in order to lay a second mass they need a blood meal. If you have ever spent much time on the salt marsh in the summer you are probably familiar with this determined lady.

Bumble Bees and Carpenter Bees are our only native social bees. Here, a common Eastern Bumble Bee is a busy bee indeed as it gathers nectar from a field thistle on the grounds of Winterthur today.

Order now to reserve a beautiful piece of Delaware history! Publication of Wild Delaware is this November but if you order now you will receive a signed and numbered copy of Wild Delaware plus two free signed lithographs plus free shipping. Just click Order Wild Delaware Online! (above) for the pre-publication special.

I have been shooting Wild Delaware for almost a year and I have photographed lots of foxes. All of them have been red until this week when I met a gray fox kit. I have to say, these less common foxes are very cute.

I knew a fight was brewing when these two snowy egrets stopped fishing, puffed up their feather sand started toward each other. Sure enough, these two snowy egrets got into a bit of a tussle over fishing rights this morning on a Sussex County salt marsh.

Growing up in a woods I learned early it is best to avoid these little guys. Fortunately, these boldly colored creatures are reluctant to use their unique and smelly weapon. A skunk’s threatening to spray is usually more than enough warning for most predators and people.

WILMINGTON, DE – The Delaware Museum of Natural History presents Wild Delaware: The Photography of Kevin Fleming on view June 11 through September 7, 2008 at the Cape May-Lewes Ferry Terminal in Lewes.

Dramatic images by award-winning photographer Kevin Fleming showcase the wildlife and wild places found along the Delaware River Estuary. Many photographs capture lively animal behavior with breathtaking detail, such as two Piping Plovers competing for the same worm along the shore. All of the flora and fauna depicted in the exhibit can be seen within a 30-minute drive of Lewes.

”The extraordinary images in Wild Delaware clearly demonstrate Kevin’s talent for documenting the beauty, diversity, and importance of natural resources in the state of Delaware,” the museum’s Executive Director Halsey Spruance said. “The Delaware Museum of Natural History is proud to promote the appreciation of state wildlife in this special exhibit.”

A Delaware native, Fleming started his career in the newspaper business and went on to travel the world as a photographer for National Geographic. He worked in 26 countries photographing subjects as diverse as the subatomic world of high-energy physics and New Zealand sheep ranchers. His assignments took him around the globe to places like to Somalia, the Mediterranean, and the Canadian Arctic.

Fleming as been recognized as “America’s Best Observer” by Readers Digest and received the Roy Klein Hall of Fame Individual Achievement Award at the Delaware Governor’s Tourism Summit in April. The exhibit will travel to the Delaware Museum of Natural History in Wilmington, Delaware, in November in conjunction with the publication of Fleming’s forthcoming book titled Wild Delaware.

What: Delaware Museum of Natural History’s Wild Delaware: The Photography of Kevin Fleming
Where: Cape May-Lewes Ferry Terminal, 43 Henlopen Drive, Lewes, DE 19958
When: June 11 - September 7, 2008
Cost: Free

About the Delaware Museum of Natural History-

As the only natural history museum in Delaware, DMNH opened its doors in 1972 to excite and inform people about the natural world through exploration and discovery. The museum houses the state’s only permanent dinosaur display, surrounded by exhibits of mammals, shells, and other specimens from around the world. The museum houses world-renowned scientific collections of mollusks and birds, including the second largest collection of birds’ eggs in North America. For more information, call 302-658-9111 or visit www.delmnh.org.

When I was a teenager, my father built and installed a Wood Duck box on the stream right outside my bedroom window. Unfortunately, we never had Wood Ducks nesting in the box, we had Screech Owls. I still remember the first time I heard the Screech Owl’s song which can be described as a whistled whinny. What it really sounded like - the first time I heard it - was the horrible scream of a crime victim. After just a few days of getting used to the screech of my owl neighbors I learned to enjoy their unusual song.

Dozens of American Goldfinches continue to invade a field planted with lanceleaf coreopsis near Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge. These photographs are from my second visit to the field and I am still hoping to catch a bunch of these colorful little birds in one shot.