Day 33,  May 5, 2016 Side trip from Lewes DE, to Bombay NWR 

The Eagles were flying today! At Bombay NWR we were able to watch three Bad Eagles catching fish and in one instance the mother was feeding her young while in flight. That was   quite a maneuver. Then she settled the young one down on a spit of land and proceeded to give the young one lessons on eating and ‘chewing’ its food. We were also treated to a Golden Eagle in the same area.

Bombay Hook, is named by the Dutch for “Little tree-point”, from the original name  which was “Bompies Hoeck”. from the first Dutch settlers. Before that the Indians of the area called it  Canaresse”, meaning “shaggy bushes”.   The marshes there  were sold  by Mechacksett, Chief of the Kahansink Indians, to Peter Bayard of New York.

The Vistor center at Bombay hook NWR.

Heads in the water. I believe they are Short Billed Dowitchers.

We know this one to be the Black Necked Stilt.

One of the many flocks of shorebirds seen at Bombay Hook NWR

It is vast with about 16,000 acres in total, with many ponds, pools and holding pools for the migrating birds each year. We saw thousands today of all sorts.  Some of the flocks soaring around held three or four species of birds and some were homogenic in composition. 

Six new species were seen today adding to the total bird seen which is now over 150 species. Today’s “First Time Seen” were: GOLDEN EAGLE, SHOVELER, GADWALL, PINTAIL, RUDDY DUCK, and the  GREEN WINGED TEAL and WIDGEON.  The   crabs that inhabit these backwaters, lay their eggs there, and are the favorite meal for many of the shore birds especially the Red Knot. We have seen many of them and in some places the Red Knots are on the beaches devouring the small crabs as they emerge from the sand beds.

A favorite activity,  is to be able to drive slowly up on  shore bird (Little Blue Heron, Great Blue Heron, or Little Green Heron,) and be able to capture a few photos before we move on. One photo today of a  Little Blue Heron was especially effective.

We walked a few trails today and missed a Merlin by a few minutes as some others had seen it just before we arrived . Common Yellowthroats were certainly ‘common’ today.  There are a few ducks still around but they have mostly gone north many weeks ago. We did see the above ducks,  but most of them have long departed. Some will stay to nest here,too.

We ended the day with a little grocery shopping at Acme, a Fantastic store , Of course they can emphasize the seafood in the meat department and had a stand wth 10 different cooked trays of shrimp for sale at $9.99 a pound all prepared and ready to go.  Also two soups for take out .. a Clam chowder and a Jambalaya. Their “Olive Bar” must have had 16 different assortments.  I liked that store.

This was Jims fresh shrimp dinner with creamed crab soup
and a very fresh salad.

Ruth  settled for the Crab leg "Flower" with shrimp, cole slaw
 and a rice pilaf onte side.

This was "Crabby Dick's" Seafood restaurant, The food was very good.

Some of the thousands of birds (See the Red Knots?)

The Allee House, still standing on the refuge, was built in 1753 by Abraham Allee, a Huguenot refugee from Artois, France. It is currently on the National Register of Historic Places. The house remains in nearly original condition. It is being refurbished.

Oh Yes! We did treat ourselves to a Seafood Dinner at “Crabby Dick’s” and had a great meal (See photos).

Tomorrow we will finish the Prime Hook NWR as we had one more road to do. and then see some of the  town of Lewes and the Dutch Museum there. It is  named Zwaanendael.