Wild Delmarva

The sun was a big yellow ball rising behind a salt marsh hummock at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge this morning.

photograph by Kevin Fleming

Winter visitors to the peninsula, Snow Geese are a treat for bird watchers and a nightmare for farmers trying to grow winter wheat. Snow Geese love to feed on the green crop but a flock this size can strip a wheat field very quickly. The farmer chased these geese off a Kent County, Delaware field this morning.

photograph by Kevin Fleming

With the temperature in the low 20s and a strong wind last night, wildlife like these Mallards spent a cold night on the water.

above photograph by Kevin Fleming, below by Jay Fleming

Today dawned very clear so I decided to see what patterns the recent cold, winter winds had sculpted on the dunes. I found this fence buried in a fresh, new dune near Indian River Inlet.

Photograph by Kevin Fleming

The incoming tide washes over what looks like coral heads on the Delaware Bay. Only exposed at low tide, these Sabellaria spinulosa worms are known for their coral-like reef-forming where they live in tubes built from sand or fine gravel. When they congregate in large numbers the tubes clump together and form mounds and reefs. Ross Worm is common name for these unseen critters and their honeycombs provide shelter for clams, crabs and oysters. Photographs by Kevin Fleming

As the sunset light filters through a Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge woods last night Snow Geese take off from a field. Photograph by Kevin Fleming

A male Eastern Bluebird surveys the surroundings at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge near Smyrna today. Photograph by Kevin Fleming

The full moon rose tonight behind the pilothouse of a crab boat in Leipsic, Delaware. Photograph by Kevin Fleming

Photographing wildlife can be both frustrating and challenging at times. On the way to Hoopers Island, Maryland on Saturday I came across a flock of about 40 wild turkeys. Without a doubt the most turkeys I had ever seen. But getting close and photographing them proved difficult. Hopefully I will get another shot at this impressive flock of birds. Photograph by Kevin Fleming

Tundra swan use their large webbed feet to lift themselves from the water on their long takeoff runs. Once airborne, they fly with an unmistakable grace and beauty. These swan were on a fresh water pond near Milford yesterday.