Birding
Start with the bird you can actually see
You do not need expensive binoculars, a life list or the ability to tell two sparrows apart. You need somewhere to go and about an hour.
Delaware helps, because a lot of its best birds are big and obvious. A great blue heron standing in a marsh does not require skill to enjoy. Nor does an osprey, a bald eagle, or several thousand snow geese getting up at once in January.
Five places to begin
Ashland Nature Center
Somebody there knows what you're looking at. The hawk watch runs in autumn and the walks are led.
White Clay Creek State Park
Woodland birds within reach of Newark and Wilmington. No scope, no marsh, no tide to time.
Brandywine Creek State Park
Forest and meadow half an hour from the city. Easy paths and somewhere to park.
Bombay Hook
The one on this list you can do from the car, which makes it the most forgiving first refuge — but check the closure dates before driving.
Cape Henlopen State Park
Coast, and the autumn raptor migration. Bring the binoculars you already own.
The two free apps worth having
Merlin identifies a bird from a photo, a description, or by listening to it sing — which is the one that will surprise you. eBirdrecords what you saw and shows what other people are finding nearby. Both are free and both are from the Cornell Lab.
Between them they replace the field guide you were about to buy, at least until you know whether you want one.
About binoculars
Use whatever you have. If you buy, 8× magnification is the usual advice for a beginner — a wider field of view makes the bird easier to find, and finding it is the hard part. Higher magnification sounds better and shakes more.
A scope is a different question and mostly a Bombay Hook question, where the birds are across a pool. Nowhere on the list above needs one.
What the marks on this site mean
- Birding destination
- Scope helpful
- Bird from the car
- Observation tower
- Walking required
- Beginner-friendly
Two things worth knowing before you go
Birds are busiest early. Not dawn-heroics early — but a marsh at nine in the morning is a different place from a marsh at two in the afternoon.
And keep your distance. A bird that flies off because you got closer is a bird that stopped feeding, and in spring on Delaware Bay that costs it more than it costs you. Where a beach or a point is closed for nesting, that closure is doing something.