Date: 5/21/25 12:29 pm From: m b <marlabeth...> Subject: Re: [de-birds] Slaughter beach question - no sighting
Thank you very much! This morning was pretty rough on the Atlantic. Maybe the Delaware Bay was less crazy. But it leads me to a question, which is, is the time to go low tide? I thought I needed to be on a rising tide and definitely not at low, or else the mud flats would be all the way out and I wouldn't really be able to see the birds sort of crowded up against the shoreline. But I may have had that completely backwards! If I need to be set straight on tide times, and someone has the time to do so, please do let me know! Thank you very much again everyone! MB
Sent from my phone, so please excuse all typos, gibberish, and horrifying misspellings
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From: O'Byrne Sally <salobyrne...>
Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2025 3:10:20 PM
To: m b <marlabeth...>
Cc: <de-birds...> <de-birds...>
Subject: Re: [de-birds] Slaughter beach question - no sighting
Yesterday around 5 pm, I saw lots of Dunlin and Dowitcher from the nature center at Mispillion. Dunlin seemed like the winner in numbers. Some Ruddy Turnstone, and one lone Redknot. Also, a lone Bufflehead
I spent yesterday afternoon with the Shorebird team, and the numbers seem about normal, but the Redknot appear to be preferring NJ this year. Dowitcher numbers were quite good, but they will soon be departing.
This morning (Wednesday), a report from a surveyor at Brockenbridge (South of S. Bowers) was 99 Redknot, 1950 Sanderling, 2600 Ruddy Turnstone, 4620 Semipalmated Sandpiper, 592 Dunlin, 23 Short-billed Dowitcher, 2 Willet.
Hope this helps
Sally O'Byrne
> On May 21, 2025, at 10:09 AM, m b <marlabeth...> wrote:
>
> I was wondering if anybody's been seeing lots of shorebirds at Slaughter beach. I only had a chance to go May 12th, and although the tide was incoming, I was closer to Mid tide. I didn't really see much. Tomorrow I have to leave Delaware, and I can either take the southern route and go to Redden state forest and Blackwater, looking for Delmarva fox squirrels and whatever remnants of warbler migration there might be.
>
> Or I can take the northern route, and go back to Slaughter beach again, in hopes of maybe seeing some shorebirds. If anyone's been seeing lots of shorebirds at Slaughter Beach at a higher tide, I would love to know.
>
> Thanks everyone! And thank you everyone for answering my "could I possibly have seen a falcon on the boardwalk at bethany" question.
>
> By the way, yesterday afternoon there was a blue grosbeak in the beach grass on the dunes at bethany. It's quite usual for me to see them over at Bethany Nature Center on 26, but I've never seen one on the beach before. It's been a very interesting trip! Two different whales, two weeks apart, both breaching, some kind of falcon on the boardwalk, a blue grosbeak in the dunes!
>
> Happy birding
>
> Mb visiting Delaware
>
> Sent from my phone, so please excuse all typos, gibberish, and horrifying misspellings
>
>
> List archives: https://lists.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=DE-BIRDS > List help: <DE-BIRDS-request...>
