Wild Delmarva

This American Five-lined Skink may look fierce but in reality he is only about five inches long. That said, they do indeed have a pretty strong and sometimes painful bite. One of the most common lizards on the Delmarva Peninsula, the adults like this one are also known as Red-headed Skinks.

June is peak nesting season on Delmarva and this female Red-winged Blackbird was busy early in the morning bringing new material to her nest. One of our most abundant blackbirds on the peninsula males do everything they can to get noticed spending the day singing their conk-la-reel song. Females tend to stay lower and hidden in wetland vegetation.

The pollinators were busy doing their business early this morning. I found this colorful Red Admiral gathering nectar from a Common Buttonbush blossom not long after sunrise.

I feel like I should turn this photograph of two young Great Blue Herons over to see it correctly. But upside down is right side up for this early morning reflection photograph. These adolescent herons are now large enough to come and go from their low nest and will soon be able to fly.

If there is one sound I identify most with Delmarva’s salt marshes it is the one-second-long song of the male Red-winged Blackbird. Starting with a strong note that blends into a musical trill this call is as unmistakeable as its bright red shoulder badge.

All black and white except for a colorful orange bill, the Common Tern is the most widespread tern in North America. This graceful flyer prefers to drink salt water even if fresh water is available. On Delmarva they nest in colonies along our bays.

The first full day of summer started without even a breath of air so the water on this salt pond was flat calm. These Black Skimmers made one pass just after sunrise slicing through the water with their lower bills. Skimmers somehow manage to catch minnows and shrimp in their narrow bills. If they hit a submerged rock or log their bills are double-hinged and can break backwards then they snap right back into position.

Two Laughing Gulls get into a territorial squabble over a patch of beach full of Horseshoe Crab eggs. The protein rich eggs attract tens of thousands of birds to Delmarva every spring.

Herring Gull chicks stand head-high in the protective grasses near their nest. These are among our most common gulls here on the Delmarva Peninsula.

If you have spent much time near Delmarva’s wetlands or ocean beaches you are probably familiar with the piercing “pill-will-willet” call of this large sandpiper. Willets are very common here on the peninsula.