Saturday, January 23, 2010

Bombay Hook Refuge

Bombay Hook Refuge is located in Smyrna Delaware and is best known for the tens of thousands of Snow Geese that winter there. In December and January the snow geese can be best seen early in the morning before they leave for the day to forage.

Snow Geese @ Sunrise

As the sun rises the geese are often buzzed by bald eagles looking for a meal. The eagles flying over cause most of the snow geese to respond with panic and flight.

How to make every goose take flight

With tens of thousands of geese one or two are bound to get nabbed by the eagles.

Eagle's Feast



The second thing that Bombay Hook is best known for are the Red Foxes. I've seen foxes on just about every visit, and I've been 10's of times. There are multiple areas in the refuge each with a specific foxes that call the the area their territory. One particular fox has a droopy right ear, and she's often seen towards the end of Shearness Pool as you drive in the refuge.

Scent Marking - Red Fox at Bombay Hook NWR, DE (3 of 9)

In 2008 she had 2 kits from this or another mating session.



Various other birds and animals can bee seen and photographed at Bombay Hook, but those are the top two things in my opinion (snow geese and foxes) and they're what I travel the ~100 miles for...

Possum in the snow



View Public Bombay Refuge Hook Map in a larger map



-Jon