Tony Pratt

Apr
17

Harbor of Refuge

Filed Under Fall 2007, Scenics, Spring

I went to one of my favorite sunset spots tonight, Cape Henlopen.  I wasn’t disappointed.

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Apr
14

The Coast Is Open For The Summer

Filed Under Egrets, Spring, yellow legs

The marshes have sprung to life over the past couple of weeks.  The summer residents are moving in and staking claim to feeding and breeding areas.  Tonight there was a spectacular dispaly put on by Yellow Legs and a variety of egrets as they fished for dinner, muscled out the competition and courted the opposite sex.

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Apr
13

Skunk Cabbage

Filed Under Fall 2007, Spring

The low, wet areas around Delaware are full of new Skunk Cabbage.  The broad green leaves are a site as late afternoon sun spotlights them.

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Apr
6

Night Shift

Filed Under Fall 2007, Spring, Squirrels

We have bird feeders behind our house that attract (surprise, surprise) Eastern Gray Squirrels during the day.  Here one stops between mouthfuls to scratch at an incredible speed.  What may be a real surprise is that after the sun goes down and the Gray Squirrels bed down for the night, Southern Flying Squirrels visit the same feeders.  They are quick and very difficult to photograph in action, but I caught one last night as he prepared to leap from the tree to the feeder.  I’ll work on photgraphing one flying and will post it as soon as I succeed.  

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Mar
31

Plover Encounter

Filed Under Piping Plover, Spring

On Sunday morning I stood in a very cold north wind as several Piping Plovers worked over low tide sand flats seeking marine worms.  These birds are threatened with extinction and, while they are frequent visitors to Delaware, they are seldom seen close up.  I was fortunate to have a very close encounter with these distinctly colored tiny birds.  I have posted 6 photographs of the 300+ I took that morning because of the uniqueness of the encounter.  

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Mar
30

Cedar Waxwing

Filed Under Cedar Waxwings, Deer, Spring

This Cedar Waxwing found a Holly tree this morning full of berries for breakfast.  Waxwings and robbins were feasting with no fighting.  There were berries enough for all.  Earlier a deer peaked out of cover to see if I was a threat.

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Mar
28

Spring Seeding

Filed Under Scenics, Spring

We think about planting seeds in our gardens as the days grow longer and warmer, but in the natural world plants rely on the whims of gravity and wind to propagate.  This detail photograph of a Kent County wetland shows a variety of seeds waiting for the right conditons to revegate the pond.

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Mar
24

Cape Henlopen State Park

Filed Under Winter 2008

I went to Cape Henlopen State park tonight thinking I might find a nice sunset at low tide on Delaware Bay. I passed the piebald deer that many people have seen near the Park nature Center.  Sunset wasn’t too bad either.

Mar
24

Filed Under Deer, Spring

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Mar
24

Filed Under Scenics, Spring

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