The adult black-crowned and yellow-crowned night herons look quite different, but the immatures are quite similar.  You have to get a good look, and we certainly did with this black crowned night heron spotted in a tree at the Bear Swamp Pool.

Often the shorebirds were in clusters of mixed species, but this was the only ibis we saw.

Can anyone tell me how this birds gets its name???  There are two species of yellowlegs found commonly in the eastern US, the greater and lesser.  They look darn near identical but the lesser has a straight bill (the greater's bill is slightly upturned) and the greater has knobbier knees.  

This snowy egret was catching a lot of fish.  Small fish, so kinda like popcorn where you just have to eat a lot to fill up.

The great blue heron is just a magnificent bird.  This one was spotted in a side bay near Finnis Pool in a shady spot in the forest/swamp.  It was preening, and hence the bill full of feathers.

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After two almost monotone shorebird pics, I have been ordered by one of my followers to post something more colorful for Labor Day Holiday.  Okay!

​A bird I hadn't expected to see, but one that is apparently fairly abundant near the marsh edges, was a blue grosbeak.  One of my favorite birds from Bombay Hook.

Possibly the most common bird on the flats

Bombay Hook is a vast expanse of marshes, so much of the time the birds are visible but quite far off.  Most of the photos from this trip were taken with a Canon L 100-400 telephoto lens, which is an awesome lens, but there is still only so much one can do.  The first day was rainy so lighting was a problem as it just wasn't bright enough for those fast shutter speeds and low ISO's one would like, but some nice birding was done and a few decent pics came out of it.

​First up,  a great egret.  These birds are very common and this one was hunting for fish along a canal near the road.

Next up, Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge.

​BHNWR is a large federal wildlife refuge located in southern Delaware run by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.  The 16,000 acre refuge was originally purchased in 1937 by proceeds from the federal Duck Stamp program as a way to preserve a large breeding and migratory area for waterfowl.

​Most of the place is a great whacking tidal salt marsh, and while hunting is allowed and actively pursued by many at some times of the year, mostly the place is just crawling with birders.  Because, well, the place is a birder's paradise.  In the next few blog posts I will put up photos of some of the birds that we found there during the summer, as still have never had to pleasure of being there during migration.

​For now, here is a panorama photo of the Shearness Pool, one of several large, shallow pools that you can view from the access road.  Oh yeah, most of the birding here is done by car so no long hikes of doom!  But there are a few short trails to observation towers if you really want to face the swarming hordes of mosquitoes and deer flies.  Of note, you'll be fine once you climb up the tower and have mostly bug-free birding.

Okay, and one quick factoid.  The name Bombay Hook has nothing to do with India or pirate captains.  It is a perversion of an old Dutch name for the area "Boompjes Hoeck" meaning Little Tree Point.

Just a quick pic of a brown thrasher from northern Virginia