.JPG)
EASTERN KINGBIRD
FERRY TERMINAL AT CAPE MAYDay 11. The Ferry across Delaware Bay
THE "PINK HOUSE"
So what American president said “There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country…”?
We will get back to that a bit later, but first we pack up the trailer and prepare to board the Cape May NJ, to Lewes (pron. Lew-is) DE Ferry and move our campsite one more time. The Ferry was the SS Cape Henlopen. I think this is number 5 campsite.. We had purchased our tickets earlier and arrived an hour before departure, giving us a chance to visit the Terminal. As I said it is the finest terminal of the many that we have been in throughout the world. We hit the gift shop and the coffee shop and took a brief tour of the facility. Upstairs is a huge Lounge that delivers catering services for weddings, anniversaries, etc. There are also on the second floor, meeting rooms with set ups for electronic presentations. There is even a passenger overpass from the terminal to the loading platform!! The foyer is massive.
At any rate we loaded on time (9:30AM) and headed out to the Delaware Bay on an overcast day. I anticipated that we might see some sea birds and we did see a flight of Northern Gannets with their large wings swooping sharply to find food. There were about 20 of them so that was a pleasant sighting. The last time we saw them was in Newfoundland. The trip was quite uneventful with just three decks on this ship and the usual lounge, food shop, and resting areas. (No overnight accommodations on this one.)
The departure from the ship was smooth and as there were only about 50-60 cars, one motorcycle and us it was quick. Ruth guided us on the route to locate the campground, and we made one stop for groceries (gotta have food). The community of Georgetown that we stopped in was a very mixed ethnic community. I saw good exchanges between people in that store that I did not see very often in a community. There was a good deal of humor and greeting exchanges. Gasoline is at $1.93/gal.
Let us remember that Delaware (The FIRST state) had one of the very first communities in the “Colonies’ from the western world (Lewes) in 1631, which was shortly after the Plymouth community was settled. These people were Dutch. (“Of course”, you say?) It was to be a whaling center, and one year after being burned by the Siconese Indians (The Nanticoke Indians still survive), was rebuilt and in the War of 1812 shelled by the British. (A cannonball still resides in the wall of a bar in town.)
We did arrive at the G and R Campground and found it very spacious. George the manager personally walked us to the campsite and made us feel welcome. That day was a day of rest for us, after setting up and getting situated. This heavily wooded area will be good for birding we think. (It was, as we will later see).
Day 12- We explore Delaware Bay birding sites.
Each morning I try to walk the perimeter of the park to find any birds that might start the day off. There were four this morning including the Goldfinches at our feeders. (We put up two feeders, one water dish and a hummer feeder at each campground that we can do this.)
There are many beaches and salt flats and marshes along this coast and we will arrange our visits in groups of three of four. The first day we covered both Big Stone Beach and Slaughter. The former was almost clear of birds as it was a very public place. (The maps don’t tell you this) We moved to Slaughter Beach and away from the beach (there were many homes there) we found a fine pond with our first Glossy Ibis and an assortment of other water birds. A “senior” lady who lives there came out while we were parked and shared some things about the area with us. We saw our first hummingbird while standing there. She was excited about the birds, but was a novice I am sure.
The NW Reserve called “Prime Hook NWR” is on the edge of these two beaches and covers some 10,000 acres along the marshes of Delaware Bay. It is a mix of fresh and saltwater wetlands stretching from Slaughter Beach on the north to Broadkill River on the south. The name “Prime” comes from the earlier settlers (DUTCH), who discovered an abundance of purple plums. So they called the area Priume Hoek or Plum Point. Over the years it became “Prime”. Less than ½ of the acreage is in freshwater marshes (4,200 acres) to provide feeding and nesting for migrating birds. Like many NWR, it is built with a series of structures to control water levels allowing marsh plants like wild rice, millet and rice tick to grow. Tens of thousands of shorebirds like dunlin, sandpipers, and plovers feed here. We see many of them each day. In the fall it is the migrating ducks and geese that dominate Over 100,000 Snow Geese and 80,000 ducks are at the refuge at the fall peak. Some of the Refuge is tidal salt marsh which is the nursing grounds for crab, fish and other invertebrates. There are also forested lands adjacent to, and in the NWR which are habitats of the migrating and local songbirds. Finally, the Delmarva Peninsula Fox Squirrel which lives here is endangered.
We found lots of people fishing and birding and as it was Saturday many were out doing both. This day we saw our first Bald Eagle on the trip, along with 61 other species. Significant birds that were seen were; Black Throated Green W., Indigo Bunting, Glossy Ibis, Ruby Throated Hummingbird (also at camp site) , lots of Osprey on the nests, Eastern Towhee, American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat W., and the Blue Grosbeak. We also listened to a Whip-poor-will just off the trail but could not see him..
The rain held off again today and that is twice the prognosticators were wrong. HOORAY!
It looks like another laundry day tomorrow unless the day is bright. We will trade good weather for laundry.
The president that made the statement about conservation was… Teddy Roosevelt of course. You know Yellowstone National Park and all that! Any questions?
THE "PINK HOUSE"
So what American president said “There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country…”?
We will get back to that a bit later, but first we pack up the trailer and prepare to board the Cape May NJ, to Lewes (pron. Lew-is) DE Ferry and move our campsite one more time. The Ferry was the SS Cape Henlopen. I think this is number 5 campsite.. We had purchased our tickets earlier and arrived an hour before departure, giving us a chance to visit the Terminal. As I said it is the finest terminal of the many that we have been in throughout the world. We hit the gift shop and the coffee shop and took a brief tour of the facility. Upstairs is a huge Lounge that delivers catering services for weddings, anniversaries, etc. There are also on the second floor, meeting rooms with set ups for electronic presentations. There is even a passenger overpass from the terminal to the loading platform!! The foyer is massive.
At any rate we loaded on time (9:30AM) and headed out to the Delaware Bay on an overcast day. I anticipated that we might see some sea birds and we did see a flight of Northern Gannets with their large wings swooping sharply to find food. There were about 20 of them so that was a pleasant sighting. The last time we saw them was in Newfoundland. The trip was quite uneventful with just three decks on this ship and the usual lounge, food shop, and resting areas. (No overnight accommodations on this one.)
The departure from the ship was smooth and as there were only about 50-60 cars, one motorcycle and us it was quick. Ruth guided us on the route to locate the campground, and we made one stop for groceries (gotta have food). The community of Georgetown that we stopped in was a very mixed ethnic community. I saw good exchanges between people in that store that I did not see very often in a community. There was a good deal of humor and greeting exchanges. Gasoline is at $1.93/gal.
Let us remember that Delaware (The FIRST state) had one of the very first communities in the “Colonies’ from the western world (Lewes) in 1631, which was shortly after the Plymouth community was settled. These people were Dutch. (“Of course”, you say?) It was to be a whaling center, and one year after being burned by the Siconese Indians (The Nanticoke Indians still survive), was rebuilt and in the War of 1812 shelled by the British. (A cannonball still resides in the wall of a bar in town.)
We did arrive at the G and R Campground and found it very spacious. George the manager personally walked us to the campsite and made us feel welcome. That day was a day of rest for us, after setting up and getting situated. This heavily wooded area will be good for birding we think. (It was, as we will later see).
Day 12- We explore Delaware Bay birding sites.
Each morning I try to walk the perimeter of the park to find any birds that might start the day off. There were four this morning including the Goldfinches at our feeders. (We put up two feeders, one water dish and a hummer feeder at each campground that we can do this.)
There are many beaches and salt flats and marshes along this coast and we will arrange our visits in groups of three of four. The first day we covered both Big Stone Beach and Slaughter. The former was almost clear of birds as it was a very public place. (The maps don’t tell you this) We moved to Slaughter Beach and away from the beach (there were many homes there) we found a fine pond with our first Glossy Ibis and an assortment of other water birds. A “senior” lady who lives there came out while we were parked and shared some things about the area with us. We saw our first hummingbird while standing there. She was excited about the birds, but was a novice I am sure.
The NW Reserve called “Prime Hook NWR” is on the edge of these two beaches and covers some 10,000 acres along the marshes of Delaware Bay. It is a mix of fresh and saltwater wetlands stretching from Slaughter Beach on the north to Broadkill River on the south. The name “Prime” comes from the earlier settlers (DUTCH), who discovered an abundance of purple plums. So they called the area Priume Hoek or Plum Point. Over the years it became “Prime”. Less than ½ of the acreage is in freshwater marshes (4,200 acres) to provide feeding and nesting for migrating birds. Like many NWR, it is built with a series of structures to control water levels allowing marsh plants like wild rice, millet and rice tick to grow. Tens of thousands of shorebirds like dunlin, sandpipers, and plovers feed here. We see many of them each day. In the fall it is the migrating ducks and geese that dominate Over 100,000 Snow Geese and 80,000 ducks are at the refuge at the fall peak. Some of the Refuge is tidal salt marsh which is the nursing grounds for crab, fish and other invertebrates. There are also forested lands adjacent to, and in the NWR which are habitats of the migrating and local songbirds. Finally, the Delmarva Peninsula Fox Squirrel which lives here is endangered.
We found lots of people fishing and birding and as it was Saturday many were out doing both. This day we saw our first Bald Eagle on the trip, along with 61 other species. Significant birds that were seen were; Black Throated Green W., Indigo Bunting, Glossy Ibis, Ruby Throated Hummingbird (also at camp site) , lots of Osprey on the nests, Eastern Towhee, American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat W., and the Blue Grosbeak. We also listened to a Whip-poor-will just off the trail but could not see him..
The rain held off again today and that is twice the prognosticators were wrong. HOORAY!
It looks like another laundry day tomorrow unless the day is bright. We will trade good weather for laundry.
The president that made the statement about conservation was… Teddy Roosevelt of course. You know Yellowstone National Park and all that! Any questions?
No comments:
Post a Comment