Saturday's Critters # 640

 Welcome to Saturday's Critters! Hello and Happy Saturday!

 If you love all God's creatures like I do and also like to blog about them and take critter photos this is where you can share your critter post. Link up your post and share your critters, join in with my critter party ! You can share any kind of critters the real ones, pretend ones, statues and paintings, a new or old post!

Happy Spring! Sending wishes that your Spring blossoms each day with happiness and joy!

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir

I am sharing a collection of photos are from my archives. Birding in the Spring is a great time to see migrating birds that just happen to just by on their way north. 

Click on images for better viewing.

The first couple of weeks of May is an awesome time to visit the Delaware beaches to see the shorebirds migrating and the horseshoe crabs laying their eggs.

These photos all taken 5-15-2015, hubby and I visited various birding hot spots to see the migrating shorebirds.  The hot spots we visited just this one day were Slaughter beach, Mispillion Harbor and the Dupont Nature Center, Port Mahon Road and Bombay Hook NWR.

Below a Ring-billed Gull, Laughing Gull, Dunlins and the Red Knot. 

 The Red Knot is listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

The Dupont Nature Center in Delaware was a great place to view the Red Knot and various shorebirds. There is a Red Knot in the center section of the photo below. The birds with the black spot on their belly are the breeding Dunlins.

There are at least three Red Knots in the photo below, can you find them.  The Red Knot migrates from South America to the Arctic and they stop at the Delaware bay area to refuel.  The Red Knot is a plump sandpiper, their breeding color is a rich cinnamon color below and a mottled gray with cinnamon edges. 

Delaware at one time was known to have the largest population of spawning Horseshoe Crabs. The Red Knot uses the Delaware beaches as a food stop, they feed on the Horseshoe Crab eggs.  The Horseshoe Crabs have been declining which in turn affects the Red Knot population. In 2023 there was a recovery plan to reverse a decline of the Red Knot. I would assume there would also need to be a plan to help with the decline of Horseshoe Crabs.

Hubby and I have walked some Delaware beaches turning over Horseshoe Crabs that get stuck upside down.  We are happy to have helped them out. I am not sure if there are limitations on harvesting Horseshoe Crabs, they are being used as bait and also for medical companies using the horseshoe crab blood.

I like this photo of the Horseshoe crabs and the tracks they leave behind heading into the Delaware Bay. 

Below are more Delaware shorebirds like the Dunlins, Ruddy Turnstones and gulls.

Below are a group of Ruddy Turnstones. 

Below are a group of Ruddy Turnstones and some Laughing Gulls. 

The beachy and sand bar areas attracted lots of birds resting and looking for food. 

Below are various gulls and all the brown spots are shorebirds like the Ruddy Turnstones, Dunlins and Red Knots. 

Dunlins in flight.

This Spring I am hoping to get to visit the Delaware beaches during the migration of the shorebirds.

I am wondering what everyone is watching lately? I am into the Virgin River series on Netflix and Young Sherlock and Scarpetta on Prime. My latest reading list has been Harlen Coben's " I will find you", Shari Lapena's "Everyone here is lying" and the latest in the series from LJ Ross's called "Berwick". They are either are from the Libby website borrowed from my local libraries or from Kindle Ebooks. 

I am linking up to Heidrun's Mosaic Monday   I hope you can stop by and visit Heidrun and check out the Mosaic Monday post.

Thanks to all my visitors and for your past and present comments. Stop back to see any replies to your comments. I appreciate everyone who loves and respects wildlife. Thank you for linking up a critter post.

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