Tag: Delaware Shorebird Project

A group of people sitting on chairs on a beach, processing shorebirds.

Delaware 2024: 26 May – 1 June

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Sunday 26 May

On the first day of week three in Delaware, Rob Rob, Chantal, Katharine and Kirsty left for Philadelphia to begin their journey home to the UK. They made the most of their last morning however, squeezing in one more resighting visit to Mispillion Harbor!

On their way to Osprey via Cedar Beach with Flo, a new volunteer got stuck in the deep mud. Showing their quick thinking and fantastic team strength, the Brits rallied together to undertake a quick and effective two-pronged rescue with help coming by boat and car/foot. Well done all!

Not many flags were spotted in Mispillion, it would seem many shorebirds were already migrating northwards. There is also the thought that more are heading to feed in New Jersey, where there are areas for roosting closer to the feeding sites. The evening harbour survey was cancelled due to an approaching storm, but this did not stop Ryan and Guy from cooking up an epic meal on the BBQ.

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Delaware 2024: 19-25 May

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Sunday 19 May

Our second week in Delaware began warm and sunny and everyone made a great effort to survey the beaches over the morning. Two Mispillion surveys were completed as usual and, after the afternoon boat trip, Nigel, Richard, Guy and Ema returned very happy with lots of flag resightings. Poor Graham, however, did not have such joy on Osprey. Nigel and Richard had found there to be a decent number of Sanderling still on Back North and so began planning a catch.

Many more rings were opened throughout the day in anticipation of a big forthcoming catch. Ryan and Flo baked veggie lentil lasagna, using layered potatoes instead of pasta (which surprisingly worked very well!) and a couple of batches of flapjack – this really didn’t last long, 24hrs at most!

Nigel led a thorough evening team talk to go over plans for a Back North catch the next day.

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Delaware 2024: 11-18 May

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Saturday 11 May

After an early start and two relatively smooth flights, eight of the WWRG team members made it to Philadelphia airport. There we met Katharine and Ema and began our drive down to Delaware. All buzzing to be back, except Chantal, who was even more excited as it was her first time on the project! This year we are on Slaughter Beach again, based in one large house with a smaller one nearby for extra sleeping space. Once everyone had paid a long-awaited visit to Mispillion Harbour, Kirsty, Jacquie and Flo made tomato pasta with salad for the jet-lagged, hungry team. Dave joined us for dinner and there was much laughter into the evening. This was definitely a happy birthday for Ema (10th May) and Flo (11th).

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Photo of a team of bird ringers sat on a beach under a shade cover processing birds. Photo by Cathy Ryden

Delaware 2023: 25 May–4 June

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Thursday 25 May

After two full weeks at Slaughter Beach, we were all well into the swing of the Project and another cannon-net catch was planned for midday at Osprey Beach. It was a gusty, chilly morning, but began to warm up and settle down around 09:00, by which point those who joined Shawn for mist-netting in the Ted Harvey woods had been up for many hours! Other activities of the morning included the construction of more exclosures around Piping Plover nests at Fowler Beach.

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A photo of a small flock of birds flying over water at sunset, with an orange sky above the shoreline. Photo by Cathy Ryden.

Delaware 2023: 18-24 May

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Thursday 18 May

Week two of shorebird fieldwork for the WWRG team in Delaware Bay began with the team’s third cannon-net catch… At a very relaxed 09:10, a setting team set off in the Jon boat into Mispillion Harbour and made for Back Beach. Meanwhile another group readied the Skiff with the rest of the equipment by making the most impressive chain to shift everything from the pickup truck into the boat. It was a shame this wasn’t caught on video! This swift method is now used at every opportunity, with great enthusiasm and to great effect.

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