Friday, Jan. 16

Black Scoter photo courtesy of Frode Jacobsen. Harbor and Gray Seals photo courtesy of Rita Modesti.

Registration is open! All reservations will be confirmed via email. No cancellations after January 2, 2026. Trips are subject to weather cancellations.

Make the Dogfish INN your Basecamp for Winter BirdINNg! Pair your birding adventure with a stay at the Dogfish INN in historic downtown Lewes, and visit Dogfish Head’s off-centered world before and after your field trips at the at the Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, and Brewings & Eats and Chesapeake & Maine in Rehoboth Beach.

Please note (updated 2:30 pm on Sunday, Dec. 28): We are currently updating our website to accommodate PayPal’s recent payment button upgrades. We are working quickly to restore the ‘Add to Cart’ function and apologize for any temporary inconvenience. Thank you for your patience.

ALL-DAY FIELD TRIP

Bombay Hook NWR and Kent County Hotspots (DRIVING/HIKING)
Time: 8:00 am – 4:00 pm
Cost: $55/person (cost does not include access to federal and state lands; read more below)
Guides: Chris Bennett & Anthony Gonzon
Meeting Location: the Bombay Hook NWR Visitor Center, 2591 Whitehall Neck Road, Smyrna, DE 19977-2912. GPS coordinates: 39.259514, -75.473799. 

Click here to register for the Bombay Hook NWR and Kent County Hotspots field trip.

Delaware’s most famous birding hot spot, Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge near Dover, Delaware, offers a cornucopia of birding opportunities – from saltmarsh and bay beach to freshwater ponds and rich, deciduous woodlands. We’ll sample each of the main habitat types looking for waterfowl, shorebirds, and raptors. The trip will involve some easy walking and car caravans between major stops alog the Wildlife Drive.

Tundra Swan. Photo courtesy of Dr. Frode Jacobsen.

We’ll take a break for lunch around 11:30 am. There are many great lunch spots in nearby Smyrna and Dover. Your guides will probably eat lunch at Brick Works Brewing & Eats in Smyrna if you would like to join them. (Please note: Our original plan was to eat lunch at Sambo’s in Leipsic, but they are closed until April 1.)

At 1:30 pm, the group will meet at a Kent County (DE) birding hotspot. We have not yet determined which hotspot we will visit first, but we may make stops at the Little Creek Wildlife Area, Aquatic Resources Education Center and Cedar Swamp Wildlife Area. Your guides will help add songbirds, shorebirds, and waterfowl to your species tally for the day. Please note that a Delaware Conservation Access Pass (CAP) is required for all vehicles visiting a State Wildlife Area. For more information about purchasing your Delaware CAP, please click here.

FEES FOR BOMBAY HOOK NWR and DELAWARE STATE WILDLIFE AREAS

Bombay Hook NWR Day Pass: Day passes provide access to refuge trails and the Wildlife Drive. The $4 pass covers the vehicle and up to 4 occupants. The $12 pass is a Bombay Hook specific annual pass. It covers the pass holder and up to 3 guests in the same vehicle. Click here for more information. A current Federal Duck Stamp is also a free pass into any National Wildlife Refuge that charges an entry fee. 

Conservation Access Pass (CAP): Participants must purchase a Conservation Access Pass (CAP), which is required for any vehicle visiting a Delaware state wildlife area. The CAP provides needed funding to help the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife maintain and improve public access, facilities, and wildlife habitat in these beautiful refuges.

A 3-day CAP can be purchased for $10 for a Delaware registered vehicle and $20 for an out-of-state registered vehicle. Only one CAP is required per vehicle. Annual passes are also available, and are valid July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026. For more information about purchasing your Delaware CAP, please click here.

What goes better together than birds and beers? Here are Dogfish Head’s off-centered ale pairing recommendations for the Winter Delmarva Dogfish BirdINNg Weekend! Please drink responsibly.

60-minute IPA: Brewed using a boatload of intense Northwest hops, we boil this continually hopped IPA for a full 60 minutes, adding more than 60 hop additions continuously to create a bold and timeless flavor. Continually hopped to deliver a pungently, citrusy, grassy hop flavor without being crushingly bitter, 60 Minute IPA is a surprisingly sessionable IPA for the craft enthusiast.

Citrus Squall: Citrus Squall is the perfect storm of a double golden ale and a paloma cocktail brewed with grapefruit juice, blue agave nectar, lime peels and a touch of sea salt, bringing strong gusts of citrusy hop and grapefruit aromas, counterbalanced by a downpouring of bright and tart grapefruit flavor and a blue agave nectar sweetness. 

SeaQuench Ale: Objectively the most refreshing beer we’ve ever brewed, SeaQuench Ale is a session sour mash-up of a crisp Kölsch, a salty Gose and a tart Berliner Weiss brewed in sequence with black limes, sour lime juice and sea salt. The result? A citrusy-tart union that has captured the attention and hearts of beer, wine and margarita drinkers alike!

Please note:

  • No cancellations are accepted after January 2, 2026. For a further explanation of our refund policy, please click here.
  • Trips will go rain or shine, unless torrential rains prevent us from viewing wildlife.
  • If the trip is canceled due to dangerous conditions, we will notify you via email. Please note that the email will be sent to all participants BCC, so you may need to check your email spam folder. A full refund will be provided within 15 days.