Wild Delmarva

Fish doesn’t get any fresher than this! There are lots of Snowy Egrets here on Delmarva for the summer and that’s bad news for the local fish population.

Here’s a portrait of a Horseshoe Crab I’ve never seen before. They are along the Delaware Bay coast now breeding by the tens of thousands. I’ve found them in all sorts of positions before but never buried tail-first in the beach. I photographed this large female and then helped her on her way. Each female crab can lay as many as 80,000 eggs.

Full moon is tomorrow (Friday) and that usually is the peak day for Horseshoe Crab mating and egg laying along the Delaware Bay shore. Tens of thousands of birds like Red Knot, Ruddy Turnstones and gulls gather to feast on the protein-rich eggs every spring.

A Clapper Rail is reflected as it crosses a dead-calm salt marsh early this morning. The clacking calls of these elusive birds are most often heard on Delmarva’s wetlands while the bird often remains unseen in the tall, thick, green grasses.

Snowy Egrets have been very aggressive this week which makes for some interesting and unusual photographs. Things will calm down in their world soon after mating season.

A Barred Owl takes off at the end of the day near sunset. These handsome owls usually hunt for small mammals, rabbits and other birds at dusk and into the night.

Snowy Egrets look their best this time of year while they are sporting their fancy breeding plumage. This one just caught a Mummichog.

It is spring and here on the Delmarva Peninsula and that means when Snowy Egrets get together in a group there can be some tension. I caught this one in a mid-air squabble that lasted only a few seconds. Then it was back to the business of catching fish.

This Osprey managed to catch a good-sized Gizzard Shad which was still alive when it passed overhead taking the first and last flight of its life. During nesting season male Osprey do much of the fishing while the female attends to the nest,

Thanks to everyone who voted and commented on the cover selection for my new book Wild Delmarva. This photograph of two Great Blue Herons fighting over a White Perch is the favorite so far. But I still have two months of shooting to go before Wild Delmarva goes to the printer so there is a chance another strong cover candidate may surface.

Thanks for watching Wild Delmarva grow!

Kevin