Date: 7/10/26 3:48 pm From: Andrew Ednie <000006be14ba5998-dmarc-request...> Subject: [de-birds] RBA: Birdline Delaware, July 10th, 2026
RBA * Delaware * Statewide * July 10, 2026 * DEST 26.07.10
*Birds mentioned Ring-necked Duck Black Scoter Northern Bobwhite Wild Turkey Chuck-Will’s-Widow Common Nighthawk Virginia Rail Sora Common Gallinule Sandhill Crane American Oystercatcher Black-necked Stilt American Avocet Black-bellied Plover Semipalmated Plover Piping Plover Spotted Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Willet Lesser Yellowlegs Short-billed Dowitcher Ruddy Turnstone Dunlin Least Sandpiper White-rumped Sandpiper Stilt Sandpiper Wilson’s Phalarope Black Tern GULL-BILLED TERN Least Tern Common Tern ROSEATE TERN Sandwich Tern Caspian Tern Royal Tern Black Skimmer Pied-billed Grebe Wilson’s Storm-Petrel AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN Brown Pelican Least Bittern Black-crowned Night Heron Little Blue Heron Tricolored Heron Green Heron Glossy Ibis White Ibis Northern Harrier Barred Owl Red-headed Woodpecker Peregrine Falcon Common Raven Yellow-throated Vireo Bank Swallow Cliff Swallow Brown-headed Nuthatch Grasshopper Sparrow Saltmarsh Sparrow Bobolink Eastern Meadowlark Louisiana Waterthrush Worm-eating Warbler Prothonotary Warbler Pine Warbler Summer Tanager Dickcissel
Hotline: Birdline Delaware Date: July 10, 2026 To Report: Andy Ednie 302-792-9591 (VOICE) Compiler: Andy Ednie (<ednieap...>) Coverage: Delaware, Delmarva Peninsula, nearby Delaware Valley, Southern New Jersey, Maryland
For Friday, July 10th this is Birdline Delaware from the Delaware Museum of Nature and Science in Greenville. The Birdline is sponsored by the Delaware Ornithological Society (DOS). Statements made on the Birdline do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsors. This is Andy Ednie, glad to be with you. The unofficial Delaware Annual List increased to 310 species this week.
This has been a RUFF week in Delaware, both weather and bird-wise. The has been a series of heavy thunderstorms producing 1.5-6 inches of badly needed rain this week. There has also been a series of RUFF sightings, a species that was missed during the spring season. The first RUFF with a white head was found at the Mahon Impoundments at Little Creek Wildlife Area on Saturday, followed by a REEVE (aka female RUFF) at Shearness Tower in Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge the same day. Subsequently, the white-headed RUFF reappeared at Bombay Hook flowed by a black and chestnut RUFF. Additional another black RUFF was photographed at Thousand Acre Marsh near Delaware City, followed by another white-headed RUFF reportedly in heavy molt in the same area off Reedy Point Road. That’s 5-6 RUFF in Delaware this week, making Delaware the RUFF Capital of North America!
Some additional birds at Thousand Acre Marsh included an AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN photographed on Tuesday morning. SORA, VIRGINIA RAIL, COMMON GALLINULE, and SANDHILL CRANE were also reported along with BLACK-NECKED STILT, LEAST BITTERN, LITTLE BLUE and GREEN HERON, plus GLOSSY and WHITE IBIS. BANK and CLIFF SWALLOW were seen flying over the marsh. A SUMMER TANAGER was heard calling at the Tybout’s Tract in Blackbird State Forest. NORTHERN BOBWHITES and Worm-eating warbler were found at Cedar Swamp Wildlife Area. DICKCISSEL, EASTERN MEADOWLARK and GRASSHOPPER SPARROW continue to be reported at Charles Price Park in Middletown.
In Newark, BOBOLINKS were seen feeding young at the Smith Mill Road field in White Clay Creek State Park. Several LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSHS and YELLOW-THROATED VIREO were seen along the creek by the pumphouse in White Clay. COMMON RAVEN was seen in west Newark and BARRED OWL were found at Lums Pond State Park. A female RING-NECKED DUCK was photographed at the Pencader Ponds near Glasgow. Spotted Sandpiper and Pine warbler were found at Carousel Farm County Park near Hockessin and Veery was seen at Mt. Ciba Wildflower Preserve.
Some additional shorebirds reported at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge this week included a WILSON’S PHALAROPE and STILT SANDPIPER at Shearness Tower plus AMERICAN AVOCET, BLACK-NECKED STILT (with precocious young), BLACK-BELLIED and SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER, GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS, WILLET, DUNLIN and WHITE-RUMPED, WESTERN, and LEAST SANDPIPER. GULL-BILLED, LEAST, and a breeding plumaged BLACK TERN were reported at Shearness. About a hundred immature WHITE IBIS were found along with SANDHILL CRANE, LEAST BITTERN, VIRGINIA RAIL, LITTLE BLUE HERON, and BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON. WILD TURKEY and NORTHERN BOBWHITE were seen near the Visitor’s Center.
GULL-BILLED and LEAST TERNS continue to be reported at the Main Tract in Little Creek Wildlife Area’s, along with LEAST BITTERN, WHITE and GLOSSY IBIS, PIED-BILLED GREBE, and VIRGINIA RAIL. BLACK SKIMMER was reported at the Mahon Tract in Little Creek. COMMON TERN, NORTHERN HARRIER, and SALTMARSH SPARROW were reported at Port Mahon. BARRED OWL, SUMMER TANAGER, LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH plus PROTHONOTARY and YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER were seen at Killen’s Pond State Park.
LEAST, CASPIAN, and ROYAL TERNS plus BLACK SKIMMER were seen identified at the Back Beach of Mispillion Inlet from the duPont Nature Center. Shorebirds included AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER and SEMIPALMATED PLOVER along with 20 BROWN PELICAN. At Oyster Rocks Road in Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, WHITE IBIS were seen plus BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH and GRASSHOPPER SPARROW
Terns at Cape Henlopen State Park included ROSEATE, SANDWICH, and GULL-BILLED TERN along with LEAST, COMMON, and ROYAL TERNS. There were also flyby WILSON’S STORM-PETRELS at Herring Point. AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER, PIPING PLOVER, RUDDY TURNSTONE and BLACK SCOTER were seen at Cape Henlopen Point. BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH was seen at the Seaside Nature Center. BLACK SKIMMER, GULL-BILLED TERN, GLOSSY, and WHITE IBIS, plus LITTLE BUE and TRICOLORED HERON were seen at Gordon’s Pond. WILSON’S STORM-PETREL was also seen from the Cape May-Lewes Ferry. COMMON NIGHTHAWK and CHUCK-WILL’S-WIDOW were still be reported in the park this week.
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was seen at Assawoman Wildlife Area and Redden State Forest. SUMMER TANAGER, BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH, LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH, plus PROTHONOTARY and YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER were seen at Trap Pond State Park.
The PEREGRINE FALCONS have successfully raised three chicks at the nest box on the Brandywine Building in downtown Wilmington, but the young are still near the nest site. You can watch the nest box activity on the DOS Falcon cam found at: www.dosbirds.org/citizen-science/falcon-watch/.
Thank you to my friends, Molly Peeples who wrote her appreciation of Birdline Delaware and to Alison Ellicott for her inspiration. Thanks also to all the people that make the Birdline possible, including Chris Hinkle, Marjorie Keefe, Finn Ward, Ted Drozdowski, Christian Schiebe, Ellie McDonald, Clive Harris, Ashley Norton, Alexander DeRiemer, Kevin Bronson, Cole Tiemann, Greg Darone, Bert Filemyr, Mike Rosengarten, Kees de Mooy, Martin Selzer, Lynn Jackson, Jean-Marie Gauthier, Judith Picciotto, Randy Fisher, Rod Murray, Chris Rankin, Carolyn Holland, Mary Braun, Natalie Weber, Sue Gruver, Rob Blye, Richard Julian, Alice Mohrman, Greg Gough, Chris and Karen Bennett, Chris Machulski, Adam Balick, Will Krohn, Frank Rohrbacher, Jim and Amy White, Kim Stieninger, David Brown, John and Andy Dunn, Wendy Cesario, Armas Hill, Joe Francis, Bruce Peterjohn, and Joe Swertinski. Special thanks to Joe Tricarico for list distribution to DOS members. Birdline needs your sightings. Please c! all your reports into 302-463-0113 or email <ednieap...> Until next week, this is Andy Ednie wishing you good birding!
