Nature of Delaware Blog

By Ian Stewart, Ornithologist Orioles are a type of blackbird that are famous for having both beautiful plumage and a lovely musical song and we are fortunate indeed to have two of them breeding around our area. Baltimore Orioles build distinctive hanging basket nests along the edges of forests and usually remain quite high in…

By Derek Stoner, Seasonal Program Team Leader Continuing our “flashback tour” from our Costa Rica 2015 adventure: As our group settled in at the comfortable Evergreen Lodge on the banks of the picturesque Tortuguero River, we could hardly imagine the bounty of wildlife could be any greater than what we found right around our accommodations.   …

By Ian Stewart, Ornithologist “I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree” (Joyce Kilmer, 1913). Trying to identify trees is a lot of fun and can be done by anyone with both patience and a good field guide because almost all trees belonging to the same species have the same…

By Ian Stewart, Ornithologist Bird banding is in full swing at both Ashland Nature Center and Bucktoe Creek Preserve and our mist-nets are becoming dominated by Gray Catbirds! Gray Catbirds (Dumetella carolinensis) are grouped with Northern Mockingbirds and Brown Thrashers as ‘mimic-thrushes’ as all three are slender thrush-like birds with long tails and loud, elaborate…

By Guest Blogger: Martha Corrozi Narvaez Associate Policy Scientist, Water Resources Agency, Institute for Public Administration, University of Delaware On an unseasonably warm Sunday in February I walked hand-in-hand with my 4-year old son along Wilmington’s riverwalk that parallels the magnificent Christina River. As we walked we passed by couples, families, runners, and people of all…

By Derek Stoner, Seasonal Program Team Leader The days are getting warmer, and all around us, Signs of Spring abound.   The first wildflowers of Spring are popping through the leaf litter layer, while amphibians like Wood Frogs are emerging from their Winter lair to make their way to wetlands for breeding purposes. You are…