1/29/2012 From Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge to Assawoman Wildlife area

This is the List of Birds we saw that we could identify

Canvasback Ducks(silver Lake, Rehoboth)

Great Blue Heron(one Just about Everywhere we went)

European Starlings

Redwing Black Bird (bethany Beach)

Ruddy Duck

Tundra Swans

Mute Swan(Bethany)

Robin

Pigeons (indian river inlet)

Commorants

Common Loons ( Indian River Inlet)

Ring Billed Seagulls

Black Ducks

Mallards

various Shore Birds (i think they were purple sandpipers??)

Boat tailed Grackles

Black faced Buzzard

Red Faced Buzzard

Wood Ducks (Prime hook National Wildlife Refuge)

Willet

Pin tailed Ducks

Canadian Geese

Hooded Mergansers

Crow

Dove

Car Bird

Tern

Bald Eagles (Prime hook National Wildlife Refuge)

Buffle Head

Snow Geese

Northern Harrier

Red Tailed Hawk

Cardinal

Blue Jay

Thats What we could identify and problably saw about 30 more species it was a good day!

Around Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge

Around Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge

Today Was a great day to See Wildlife around the refuge today! Robin(my wonderful girlfriend) and i saw nine American Bald Eagles which would have been enough for me! But we also saw the seasons first Hooded Mergansers and Bufflehead Ducks! Our day started in search of Canvasback ducks in Rehoboth at Silver Lake but there was not any there so  we took a few pictures of some Cormorants and some Mallards. So after a quick stop at WAWAfor a fresh coffee and a little time for plan b to be figured out off we went!

Our first destination was the town of Lewes, Delaware to drive along Pilottown road.Pilottown  road follows the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal and is usually a pretty good place for Bird-watching today it was not! Towards the end of pilottown road the university of Delaware has its research vessals and a little harbor and its also where the Broadkill River and the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal join up and enter the Delaware Bay.(http://www.mapquest.com/ map of this area) This area is not part of the Primehook Refuge But it is a good view of the property just south of the refuge!

In the little harbor to our surprise were four male Buffleheads Swimming and diving for there lunch! These were the first Buffleheads that we have seen this winter so far and hopefully many more. After taking a Few Shots and a few strange looks from the Lewes Police officer driving by, Maybe it was the no parking sign that we really did not see! So we Continue to the end of Pilottown road and turn around at the state boat ramp parking lot. A few terns in the distance and a few Great Blue Herons on the opposite side of the Broadkill River we turn around and head down New Road towards Route one! There are a few Good birding spots on new road see keep your eyes on the road! We Turn North on route one  enjoying are Coffee we head to Oyster Rocks Road and follow it down along the marsh and turnaround at the Broadkill River. We did see a few Vultures and a few Shorebirds! Back on route one heading north again we turn right on Steam boat landing road! Normally we skip this short dead end road but today we went down it and we were treated to an immature American Bald Eagle eating a roadkill house cat on the side of the road!( http://www.mapquest.com/ Map of Oyster Rocks Road and Steamboat Landing Road.)

So another turnaround at the Broadkill River and we head further north to Route 16 and turn right! There are lots of Geese and Great Blue Herons along the Road in the Marshes. Route 16 is where the Primehook National Wildlife Refuge office and visitors center is located

Once inside the refuge we see A lot of Red faced Vultures(buzzard) roosting in the trees and got a few good pictures or would that be bad? There wasn’t anything else to see there today so we left the refuge and headed further north on route one to Primehook Road! The First Bird we saw was a Red tailed Hawk That flew right beside the car and gave us a great view but he did not stick around long enough to get a picture of him close and personal!

After the nice sighting of the red tailed hawk we got a few nice pictures of a pied billed Grebe and a few Great Blue Herons! It wasn’t a day of  Great sightings but it was a good day for birding! I would call this a slow day around the refuge which does not happen very often and that’s why this is one of the very best places to see wildlife in Delaware its never a dull moment! So we turnaround at the Delaware Bay and head towards our final road to complete our daily adventure but on our way over to Fowler’s Beach road we find four immature Bald Eagles along Cod road! They Just sat there talking to each other the whole time we watched them. They were the most vocal Eagles i have ever heard then before we bothered them we moved onto Fowler’s Beach road and then Home! I would say it was a heck of a day for Raptors thats for sure!

Whats in my Camera Bag

As i sit here contemplating cleaning out my camera bag i thought i should share what is contained inside! My camera bag is the tamrac 5375 Adventure 75 backpack it has a lot of cool features that i like but sometimes i wish it was bigger and sometimes smaller!

Product Highlights

• For Digital/Film 5 Lens SLR Camera Kit
• Weatherproof 900D PolyTek Backpack
• Thick, Closed-cell Foam Padding
• Memory & Battery Management System
• Windowpane-Mesh Pockets
• QuickClip Tripod Attachment System
• EasyGrip Carrying Handle
• Foam-padded Backpack Harness
• Adjustable Waist Strap
• M.A.S. and S.A.S. Compatible

Ok on the outside mesh pocket i found a few things i did not know was there!

1. Pocket knife
2. a Targus 58-55 filter adapter(it allows you to put a 58 mm filter on a 55 mm lens)
3. Camera Battery
4. Notebook
5. Back lens cover for my old 75-300mm lens that i dropped and broke
6. front lens cover for the mentioned lens above
7. A Hoya polarized filter that i paid 5 bucks for at a resale shop
8. a metal 49 mm lens cap purchased same day as the polarized filter
9. Elastic band to keep my sunglasses from falling off! No idea where the sun glasses are?
10. a wire tie from a loaf of bread(lol used to tie back weeds from flowers)
11. 6 hair ties that i guess my girlfriend put in there over several hikes maybe?
12. Pen for writing on the first two pages of the note book , rest of it blank!
13. Carbiner with a water bottle leash

Now that i cleaned the outside pocket out im kind of scared to open the first flap lol!

1. Battery charger for camera
2. Marvin the martian key chain/led flashlight that my youngest daughter gave me and tied a bunch of beads that state i am the number one dad! i love it!
3. Manual for the Sony a 350
4. Emergency hooded Poncho! 1.99 from walmart
5. A rain cover for my camera and lens from op/tech usa
6. USB cable for camera
7. Remote for camera

That wasn’t to bad now off to the inside flap of main compartment!

1. Cokin 49 mm filter system with small filter holder
2. Cokin 58 mm filter system with larger filter holder
3. luggage tag with my info just in case i lose my bag
4. 58 mm circular polarized filter
5. 58 – 52 mm filter adapter
6. Memory stick adapter for camera(never used)
7. 32 MB compact flash card (just in case i fill up my memory card in camera)
8. 64 MB compact flash card(same as above but i just wanted to say i purchased these at Boscovs for under two dollars lol)
9. Fuji film memory card holder

I honestly was scared thought there was a lot more junk in there but there was not! Now onto the main Camera area!

1. Sunpack lens pen (Has a brush thar slides out to get dust off the lens)
2. a very large Ziploc bag (used to protect gear in case of rain also storage for any treasures i might find)
3. 46 mm circular polarized filter in nice plastic case
4. Targus 58 mm ultra violet filter
5. Promaster micro fiber cloth
6. Small black bag with Q-tips, Micro fiber cloth, lens cleaning solution(empty) and a small blower brush
7. Sony Alpha 100 (my back up camera)
8. Sony Alpha 350
9. 35-80 mm Minolta lens with 49mm skylight filter(love this filter)
10. 100-200 mm Minolta lens with a ultraviolet filter
11. 80-200 mm Minolta lens with circular polarized filter
12. 50 mm minolta lens
13. Space for my Sigma 170-500 mm lens(but i never put it in it has its own bag)

OK that’s everything that’s in my camera bag and it is now cleaned out and ready to go again! I was surprised i didn’t find more stuff that i don’t use that often but it wasn’t to bad.

Places To Photograph Wildlife In The Delaware Area

 Please remember to take  only memories and   photographs and leave only footprints

Click the link below for a list of Delaware birds!

http://www.udel.edu/dosbirds/committees/de_records.htm

This is not a list of all the great places to see wildlife in the Delaware region but its a great place to start! I have not been to everyone of these places but i have been to most of them and when i get to these places i will post info on the areas that i get to photograph so check out this blog every now and then for updates on the Delaware region!

Bombay National Wildlife Refuge – Smryna, Delaware

This is one of my favorite places to see wildlife and you never have to leave your car it has a great wildlife drive with some great trails as well. In the winter months this is one of the best places to see Snowgeese!

• 16251 acres of Pristine Saltwater marshes, Freshwater marshes, Upland Forest, and agriculture fields!

Bombay Hook NWR’s Closed Dates for Hunting

2011-2012 Season – Bird Watcher’s List

      The back section of  the Refuge (Bear Swamp and Finis) will be closed the following dates:
November 11, 12, and 16, 2011
December 12 and 15, 2011
January 20, 2012

The front section of  the Refuge (Raymond Pool and Shearness Pool) will be closed the following  dates:
November 14 and 18, 2011
December 14, 2011
Enter  from Dutch Neck Road.

The back section of the Refuge (Bear Swamp and Finis) will be closed until 1:00 pm for the Young Waterfowlers Hunts:

December 10 and 17, 2011.

The Refuge is open daily from Sunrise to Sunset.

http://www.fws.gov/northeast/bombayhook/

Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge – Milton, Delaware

This is the closest refuge to my house its only about 1 mile from my front door! Since its so close most of my pictures are from this refuge. The refuge office is located off route 16 and that is where the trails are located but the refuge goes along the Delaware bay all the way to Slaughter beach so if you want to see more of the refuge its great to explore the roads that lead into the refuge.http://www.mapquest.com/ That link will take you to the area around Prime hook! The area around Prime hook has held a few unusual birds in the past few years There were three sandhill cranes on route sixteen and a swainsons hawk off of cod road so its always good to explore the area around this refuge!

The refuge has some great trails that offer some great views of the wildlife the blue goose trail is the longest and my favorite! Inside the park is nice but explore the other roads around the refuge and you never know what you might see!

Over 10,000 acres of Salt and Freshwater marshes and upland woodland and Agriculture fields!

http://www.fws.gov/northeast/primehook/

Black Water National Wildlife Refuge

This refuge also has a nice wildlife drive that is paved its not as big as the wildlife refuge in Bombay national wildlife refuge but is worth the trip every time! When i go to this refuge i always take the long way there due to all the great places on the way to see wildlife and the area is great to spot the American Bald Eagle!

Over 27,000 acres of Salt and freshwater marshes and upland woods andagriculture fields!

2145 Key Wallace Dr
Cambridge, MD 21613
(410) 228-2677

http://www.fws.gov/blackwater/

Assateague Island Maryland

Assateague island is probably most famous for the wild horses that roam freely on the island but the island is awesome for viewing all sorts of various wildlife. The island is split in half and half is owned by Maryland and the other is in Virginia and both sides each have one road in! The Maryland side does not have a wildlife drive like the Virginia side of the island but i personally seem to see more horses on the Maryland side. The Wildlife drive in Virginia’s side of the island is open all day to hike or bike but after 3pm if you want to drive.

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/eastern/assateague.asp

http://www.nps.gov/asis/index.htm

Assateague Island Virginia

http://www.nps.gov/asis/index.htm

Future Information on these places coming soon!

 Little Creek Wildlife Area – Dover, Delaware

http://www.delawarebirdingtrail.org/dbc3.html

 Brandywine Creek State Park – Wilmington, Delaware

http://www.destateparks.com/park/brandywine-creek/index.asp

Ted Harvey Wildlife Area – Dover, Delaware

http://www.ecodelaware.com/place.php?id=273

Slaughter Beach- Delaware

Shore Birds Delight!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaughter_Beach,_Delaware

Cape Henlopen State Park – Lewes, Delaware

http://www.destateparks.com/park/cape-henlopen/

Rehoboth Beach

Gordons Pond and Silver Lake don’t miss those areas for Wildlife!

Indian River Inlet – Between Rehoboth Beach and Bethany Beach, Delaware

http://www.destateparks.com/marinas/

Assawoman Wildlife Area – Bethany Beach, Delaware

http://www.beach-net.com/assawoman/assawomantour.html

Redden Forest/Ellendale State Forest – Georgetown, Delaware

http://www.stateparks.com/ellendale.html

Trap Pond State Park  – Laurel, Delaware

http://www.destateparks.com/park/trap-pond/

Great place to see Cyprus Trees!

Pocomoke Swamp – Snow Hill, Maryland

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/pocomokeguide.html

Nanticoke River 

http://www.baygateways.net/general.cfm?id=168

Augustine Wildlife Area – Delaware City, Delaware

http://www.recreationparks.net/DE/new-castle/augustine-wildlife-area-delaware-city

Chesapeake and Delaware Canal

http://www.nap.usace.army.mil/sb/c&d.htm

Fort Delaware State Park – Delaware City, Delaware

http://www.destateparks.com/park/fort-delaware/

Elk Neck State Park [MD] – North East, Maryland

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/central/elkneck.asp

White Clay Creek – Newark, Delaware

http://www.destateparks.com/park/white-clay-creek/index.asp

Brandywine Creek State Park –  Wilmington, Delaware

http://www.destateparks.com/park/brandywine-creek/index.asp

My First Post on my new Blog

Since this is my first post on my wordpress blog i will take a moment to introduc myself. Iam mainly a nature photographer who also dabbles in all sorts of other types of photography from Animals to Military Aircraft! I do try to support my photograhy by selling my photographs on my website located at http://donaldgrangerphotography.zenfolio.com/f1006849850 so please visit my site and let me know what you think. I do enjoy using sony dslrs due to the fact that back in the film days i used minolta cameras and since the lenses from my film days fit my sony cameras! I mostly practice my craft just about anywhere on the Delmarva Pennsula Living very close to Prime hook national wildlife refuge finds me there alot! Being along the east coast of the Good ole

USA means we get about 381 bird species flying through all the time so i will try to share with you all as many as i can!