Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge Calendar of Events

The Visitor Center is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 am  to 4:00 pm year round.
The Visitor Center is open on weekends from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm until June 8, 2008.
The Allee House is closed for repairs until further notice.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE - Check back for updates and details.

May 1 through 15, 2008  All day      Art Exhibit by Marion Otnes   Come to the Refuge to welcome the warm weather and the migrating birds.  Enjoy seeing the migrating birds outside and the beautiful wildlife art of Maion Otnes inside.  Marion is a self-taught watercolor artist and has exhibited across the U. S.  Her watercolors are distinct in their soft reality.  The first hand knowledge of subject matter is the artist's halmark.   Her work is of individual  birds and animals she has studied while banding birds and operating a Wildlife Rehab Center.  She also spent  many years in the Hudson Bay area of Canada banding shorebirds on the pack ice and studying the Polar Bear.  The exhibit is in the auditoruim.

May 9, 2008                7:30pm – 9:30 pm  Evening Program on Frogs      Jim White, Associate Director, Land and Biodiversity Management for the Delaware Nature Society, will lead a frog trip at Bombay Hook. Jim has been studying the distribution of amphibians and reptiles on the Delmarva Peninsula for over 20 years.  He is the co-author of a field guide, Amphibians and Reptiles of the Delmarva Peninsula, published in 2003.  Jim provides the Refuge with annual frog and toad surveys which monitors the health of the frog population and their habitats located on the Refuge.  The program will begin with a presentation in the auditorium and then Jim will lead the group outside to look for frogs and toads.  Bring a flashlight and boots.  The group will be walking in tall grass and in wet areas.  Hop, skip, and jump to get to this program, you don’t want to miss it!

May 10, 2008              7:00 am – 1 pm          Spring Bird Count   Meet at the Visitor Center.  Experienced and novice “birders” are needed to help count and record bird species.  Teams will be formed and assigned an area of the Refuge to survey and record their bird sightings.  The teams are usually finished by 1:00pm.  For more information contact Tina Watson at 302-653-6872.

May 13, 2008              9:30 am – 11:30 am    Gardenkeepers Meeting and garden work.

May 17, 2008               8:00 am – 4:30 pm     Migratory Bird Festival   The theme for International Migratory Bird Day is Tundra to Tropics:  Connecting Birds, Habitats, and People.  Come join us for a day filled with information, fun, hands on activities, exhibits, wildlife photography and art, boat rides, and more.  CLICK HERE FOR SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

May 24, 2008            11:30 am – 1:30 pm Shorebird and Horseshoe Crab Presentation   Greg Breese, Project Manager for the Delaware Bay Estuary Project, will start the program with a presentation on shorebirds, their amazing migration journey, and horseshoe crabs on the Delaware Bay.  The group will then go to Pickering Beach to see the shorebirds and the horseshoe crabs that come up onto the Bay beach to spawn.  Meet at the Refuge’s auditorium.

May 31, 2008              12:00 noon - 4:30 pm   Field trip to DuPont Nature Center   The Delaware Bay is a magical, mysterious place and rich resource for shorebirds and  horseshoe crabs in May and June.   Spend the afternoon at DuPont Nature Center learning about the Shorebird Migration and Horseshoe Crab Spawning Connection.  We will identify shorebirds and explore the exhibits in the nature center to learn how natural events coincide to make the bay both a feeding and spawning area.  A 10 passenger van will leave Bombay Hook Visitor Center at 12noon. Call to reserve a space in the van.  Others can meet us at DuPont Nature Center at 1:00 pm. 

June 3, 2008               11:00 am – 1:00 pm    Salt Marsh Boat Ride  The boat will go along the bayshore to look for shorebirds feeding on horseshoe crab eggs and flying up and down the bay.  The trip is limited to eight people and may be canceled due to weather conditions.  Call to Register.

June 4, 2008               National Garden Week Program – Check back for further details.

June 10, 2008             9:30 am – 11:30 am Gardenkeepers Meeting and garden work.

June 21, 2008             10:45 am – 5:00 pm   Pea Patch Island Bird and History Field Trip     Joel Citron will meet us in Delaware City for the 12 noon ferry.  We will spend a couple of hours walking the trail on the north end of the Island looking for herons that nest at the rookery and for other birds on the island.  An 11-passenger van will leave Bombay Hook at 10:45 am.  Call to register if you plan to take the van from Bombay Hook.  Interested participants can also meet in Delaware City in time to board the 12 noon ferry.

August 16, 2008:         Shorebirds by Impression Workshop with Kevin Karlson
    Outdoor Session: 10 AM - 2 PM; Leaves promptly at 10.
    Indoor Session: 3 PM - 4:30 PM
    Book Signing before Indoor session: 2:45 - 3 PM
    Book Signing also after Indoor Session: 4:30 - 5 PM
This outdoor/indoor workshop will concentrate on a different approach to field identification, which Kevin calls "Birding by Impression". Using the same approach covered in the popular new book "The Shorebird Guide", by Kevin Karlson, Michael O'Brien and Richard Crossley, Kevin will share tips on how to identify shorebirds using non-changeable impressions of size,
shape/structure and body language to form a surprisingly accurate first impression of every bird you see. Then a more complete ID picture is formed by adding details of plumage, aging and feather condition. Throughout the field observation, comparison to nearby familiar species helps set a basic understanding of the birds we are concentrating on. It would help greatly ifyou read one or more articles on "Birding by Impression" that Kevin has on his website: kevinkarlsonphotography.com (articles link on home page) before you attend the workshop. Kevin recently signed a contract to write a new book called: "Birding by Impression", for the Roger Tory Peterson Research Series at Houghton Mifflin Publishers.  Call 302-653-6872 to register.

                       For more birding trips check Delmarva Ornithological Society’s website:  http://www.dosbirds.org/field_trips/schedule.php

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