Playing catch up part 1

Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)

I believe these are some nesting osprey (Pandion haliaetus) in Lewes, DE

Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

Better view bumble bee (Bombus sp?) visiting a wild bergamot flower (Monarda fistulosa)

Bumble bee (Bombus sp?) visiting a wild bergamot flowerBee visiting a wild bergamot flower

Unkown pale yellow flower in Lewes, DE

Abelia bush (probably Abelia × grandiflora)

So a lot has happened since my last post both personally and professionally and I will be trying to play catch up with my posts.

These pictures come from Lewes, Delaware and our little native plant garden in back of my office. In Lewes as we were driving by one of the public landings we saw what I’m guessing are a pair of nesting osprey out on a nest platform in the water.

Behind our office in New Castle, Delaware we have a small certified wildlife habitat / native plant garden. I have seen some dragonflies and plenty of bumble bees visiting the flowers but no monarchs visiting the butterfly weed yet (may still be early). Here is a link to identifying bumble bees of the east coast which was put together with help from Pollinator Partnership.

Memorial Day Weekend at the Beach

Sunset at Lewes Beach 1

Dog (not ours) playing fetch in the water

Birds on the beach

Sunset at Lewes Beach 3

Sunset at Lewes Beach 2

Sunset over the dunes at Lewes Beach, Delaware

Close up of the surf

Sunset at Lewes Beach with horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus)

Some pictures I took during sunset at Lewes Beach, Delaware during Memorial Day weekend. Horseshoe crabs were spawning in the evenings in May, saw a few and a few up on the beach. Enjoy, there’s a back log to come!

Evening at the State Park and a grizzled Bluebird

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

Observation tower at dusk

Eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis) 2

Eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis) 1

A rather grizzled looking male and female pair of bluebirds has a nest with chicks in one of our boxes. Bluebirds will apparently have multiple broods in the season though I’d say this is probably the last one. That evening we took a stroll through Cape Henlopen State Park where we came across a white-tailed deer in the middle of the path. There were many others that evening but this one was closest and stood still longest. I also threw in a decent picture of one of the old WWII observation towers that can be found along the coast of Delaware and were used to watch for German U-boats.