Friday, Jan. 31

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

MORNING TRIP

Birds of Bombay Hook NWR (DRIVING/HIKING)
Time: 8:00 – 11:30 am
Cost: $30/person
Meeting Location: Bombay Hook NWR Visitor Center, 2591 Whitehall Neck Road, Smyrna, DE 19977-2912. GPS coordinates: 39.259514, -75.473799

Please note: Cost does not include entry to Bombay Hook NWR. Access to the refuge trails and auto tour route are provided with a $3.50 day pass or an $11 annual pass. Click here for more information and to purchase your pass. A current Federal Duck Stamp is also a free pass into any national wildlife refuge that charges an entry fee. 

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 winter shorebirds and waterfowl. Scan the fields on your drive into the refuge for large flocks of Snow Geese! The trip will involve some easy walking and car caravans between major stops.

AFTERNOON BOAT TRIP

Scoters & Seals (LEWES BOAT TOUR)
Time: 2:30 – 5:00 pm
Cost: $72/person (includes tip for First Mate)
Meeting Location: Fisherman’s Wharf 107 Anglers Rd, Lewes, DE 19958. GPS Coordinates: 38.776829, -75.137510

Join us for a 2.5-hour cruise of the waters around the mouth of the Delaware Bay aboard the Thelma Dale IV. The boat features a heated cabin, benches along the lower deck rail, and a top deck for open-air viewing. We will visit the two stone breakwaters and the ice breakers in search of common and rare waterfowl and seabirds including gulls, cormorants, gannets, loons, scoters, eiders and with luck a Harlequin Duck or Razorbill. We also have a good chance of seeing Harbor and Gray Seals that regularly haul out on the rocks. Restrooms are available on board, and coolers (with off-centered ales from Dogfish Head) are welcome!

We are coordinating the boat trip with low tide, which will offer better views of the seals hauled out on the lower breakwater rocks. Low tide for Lewes on January 31 is 3:58 pm. Sunset is 5:21 pm.

If dangerous weather causes boat trips to be canceled on Friday and/or Saturday, we’ll schedule a makeup trip on Sunday, Feb. 2, from 2:30 – 5:00 pm. Those unable to join us on Sunday will be provided with full refunds.

Harbor and Gray Seal photos courtesy of Sherry Abbott.

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!

Avian Influenza Alert:

Recently, H5 avian influenza has been detected in sick and dead Snow Geese on Delmarva. We will be hosting field trips in areas where avian influenza may be present. If you maintain a backyard flock of chickens or work in the poultry industry, you may want to take precautions to minimize the spread of avian influenza. For more information about protecting yourself and your birds from avian influenza, please visit the CDC website.

If you encounter a sick or dead bird, please call these numbers and visit these websites for reporting information:

Please note:

  • No cancellations are accepted after January 15, 2025. 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.