Friday, March 14

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

For Friday, March 14, we are trying two new all-day field trips that are guaranteed to be fun and birdy! In Delaware, we’ll explore the Assawoman Wildlife Area and Fresh Pond just north of the DE/MD state line near Ocean View, DE. In Maryland, we’ll go birding in Dorchester County at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge and along the Cambridge waterfront. Please note that both field trips require the purchase of vehicle passes for access to the state and federal lands.

Registration is open for the Assawoman Wildlife Area & Fresh Pond trip! We still need a few more for the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge & Cambridge Waterfront trip. Scroll down for more information.

ALL-DAY TRIPS

Assawoman Wildlife Area & Fresh Pond (DRIVING/HIKING)
Time: 8:00 am – 4:00 pm
Cost: $55/person
Meeting Locations:
8:00 am: for the Assawoman Wildlife Area, meet in the large parking lot near 37607 Mulberry Landing Road, Frankford, DE 199454. GPS coordinates: 38.498477, -75.095713
1:30 pm: for Fresh Pond, meet at the trailhead located at the end of Hickman Road in Ocean View, DE 19970. GPS coordinates: 38.563671, -75.072874

Please note: Cost does not include the purchase of 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, but please note that CAPs purchased now will only be good through June 30, 2025. Annual passes are good July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026. For more information about purchasing your Delaware CAP, please click here.

Registration is open! Click on the secure “Add to Cart” button below to register.

During the morning, we’ll explore the forested trails and ponds of the Assawoman Wildlife Area. This 3,000+ acre refuge is managed by the State of Delaware for wildlife, and features loblolly pine forest, wildlife food crops, open ponds and marshes along Little Assawoman Bay just north of the DE/MD state line near Ocean View, DE. We’ll do some light hiking on the trails, and we will drive between birding hotspots within the wildlife area. For a sample of the birds currently being observed at the Assawoman Wildlife Area, check out the eBird hotspot.

We’ll take a break for lunch around 11:30 am. There are many great lunch spots in nearby Ocean View and Bethany Beach!

At 1:30 pm, the group will meet at the Hickman Road trailhead for Fresh Pond in Ocean View, DE. This site is managed by Delaware Seashore State Park. We’ll hike the trails searching for songbirds and raptors, and scope the pond for waterfowl. For a sample of the birds currently being observed at Fresh Pond, check out the eBird hotspot.

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge & Cambridge Waterfront (DRIVING/HIKING)
Time: 8:00 am – 4:00 pm
Cost: $55/person
Meeting Locations:
8:00 am: for the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, enter the Wildlife Drive near 2431 Key Wallace Drive, Cambridge, MD 21613. After entering the drive and paying for your $3/vehicle pass (if needed, scroll down for more info) meet in the large parking lot on the right just past the entrance kiosk. GPS coordinates for the meeting location: 38.444955, -76.092084.
2:00 pm: for the Cambridge Waterfront, meet at the Dorchester County Visitor Center, located at 2 Rosehill Pl, Cambridge, MD 21613. GPS coordinates: 38.571231, -76.064275.

Please note: Cost does not include entry to the Blackwater NWR Wildlife Drive. A $3.00 per vehicle entrance pass admits the passholder and fellow occupants of a single, private non-commercial vehicle. You can not purchase a day pass online. Passes are obtained at the self-service kiosk at the entrance to the Wildlife Drive. Please fill out the provided envelope, place your entrance fee inside (cash or check – no credit or debit cards accepted), tear off your pass stub, and place the envelope in the silver lock box. Holders of Federal Recreational Lands Passes (“American the Beautiful” passes) and valid Duck Stamps are admitted for free. If one person in the vehicle possesses a Federal pass, the entire vehicle is admitted for free. Click here for more information.

We need a minimum of 10 participants to run this tour. If you are interested, please email dmvbirds@gmail.com with your name and the number in your party. We will open registration after reaching our 10-person minimum.

Our Dorchester County birding adventure will begin along the Wildlife Drive at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. We’ll spend ~two hours on this 4-mile trail, driving and stopping at hotspots to scope the marshes and open water for waterfowl, shorebirds and nesting Bald Eagles and Great Blue Herons. Around 10:00 am, we’ll stop at the Blackwater Visitor Center for a restroom break before cruising along Maple Dam Road and Shorter’s Wharf Road to tally species in the vast Chesapeake marshes of the refuge. For a sample of the birds currently being observed at Blackwater, check out this eBird hotspot.

We’ll break at noon for lunch. Some may venture into Cambridge, MD to enjoy a meal at one of the many great lunch spots in town. Others may want to consider packing a lunch to eat at the pavilion located at the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center, located just 2.5 miles from the Blackwater Visitor Center. If you haven’t been, we highly recommend a self-guided tour of the Tubman Visitor Center before rejoining the group in Cambridge at 2:00 pm. Please be advised that there are no restaurants near the visitor center, and Cambridge is 20 minutes away.

At 2:00 pm, the group will meet at the Dorchester County Visitor Center, located at 2 Rosehill Pl, Cambridge, MD 21613. We’ll scope the birds on the Choptank River before our caravan departs for two Cambridge Waterfront birding hotspots, Oakley Street and Gerry Boyle Park. For a sample of the birds currently being observed at Oakley Street, check out the eBird hotspot.

After the trip ends at 4:00 pm, there’s a good chance your guides will enjoy a craft beer at RaR Brewing in downtown Cambridge. We invite you to join us!

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 February 28, 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.