Sunday, March 1 – Delmarva Birding Weekends

*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 February 13, 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.

MORNING TRIP

Assawoman Wildlife Area (DRIVING/HIKING)
Time: 8:00 – 11:00 am
Cost: $30/person (please note that this trip requires a Delaware Conservation Access Pass; scroll down for more information)
Guides: Chris Bennett & Anthony Gonzon
Meeting Location: Meet in the parking lot near the entrance to the Assawoman Wildlife Area, located at 36991-36945 Camp Barnes Road, Frankford, DE 19945. The parking lot is located ~0.1 miles past the entrance on the left. GPS coordinates: 38.498409, -75.095598

Update (posted 3:30 pm on Thursday, Feb. 26): We just received word that the main road into Assawoman Wildlife Area will be open by Friday afternoon, and the new observation tower will be accessible.

*Brown-headed Nuthatch. Photo courtesy of Dr. Frode Jacobsen.*

We will spend the morning birding the 3,100-acre Assawoman Wildlife Area. Habitat there includes freshwater impoundments, Little Assawoman Bay and its saltmarshes, and loblolly pine forest. We will also bird from the newly constructed observation platform overlooking Mulberry Pond.

This field trip requires a Conservation Access Pass (CAP). Participants will drive their own vehicles. Total driving distance for this tour is between 6-8 miles, and total hiking should not exceed three miles along the mostly flat, compact trails.

Birding at Delaware Wildlife Areas requires a Conservation Access Pass (CAP).

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.

*Gadwall, Mallard, American Black Duck, American Wigeon, and Green-winged Teal*. *Photo courtesy of Dr. Frode Jacobsen.*

AFTERNOON CRUISE

Scoters & Seals Cruise (LEWES BOAT TOUR)
Time: 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Cost: $72/person (includes tip for First Mate)
Guides: Chris Bennett, Anthony Gonzon, Russ Kovach & Jim Rapp
Meeting Location: Fisherman’s Wharf 107 Anglers Rd, Lewes, DE 19958. GPS Coordinates: 38.776829, -75.137510

Update (posted at 9:00 am on Wed., Feb. 25): There are 16 seats available on the March 1 cruise.

Join us for a 2.5-hour cruise of the waters around the mouth of the Delaware Bay aboard the Thelma Dale V. 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 breakwater rocks. Low tide for Lewes on March 1 is 1:16 pm.

*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!

Please note:

No cancellations are accepted after February 13, 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.