The beaches here come alive with Horseshoe crabs during their month long mating season. Millions upon millions of eggs are laid and left to incubate in the sun warmed sand.  In a fantastic example of nature’s impeccable timing, huge flocks of wading birds pass through here at exactly that same time on their route from South America to nesting grounds in the north. The Dupont Nature Center in Milford does a great job telling the story of this event.  The naturalists are well informed, welcoming, and well spoken educators.  It is well worth a stop.

I held a horseshoe crab. His little feet scrambled wildly against my hand as he tried to scoot away.  It didn’t hurt but did feel a bit weird.

We watched a blue crab eat squid. They have great “hand and eye” coordination and just gobbled it up.  Heaven help mankind if those things were bigger!

The slimy looking foot of a welk moves that shell unexpectedly quickly across the aquarium.

A beachfront camera on the beach gives us an up-close look of the first arriving horseshoe crabs.

Protecting the Atlantic Flyway

The Delaware coast is part of this migratory bird super highway.  Development is taking its toll as wetlands and coastal prairies are drained and barrier islands taken over by subdivisions.  To slow and counter that trend, National Wildlife Refuges, State managed lands and private conservancies are holding and managing lands in a more natural state.

We wind along the wildlife drives and trails to check out Bombay Hook and Prime Hook NWR. We are just outside of peak migration season and winds are gusting to 30 mph so the birding is only fair.  Still, I’m glad we wandered through here.

We move up to Killen’s Pond SP. It is a quiet little park with sites backing up to an old mill pond.  It should be perfect as our base to explore southern Delaware.

We head back to Ocean City MD Boardwalk. It seems only fair that we give the place another try in more hospitable weather.  It is a bright and sunny Saturday.  There are more people to watch, skateboards to dodge, noise drifts from the arcades, the carnival rides are running, and many more shops and food stands open.

We find the Carousel, a1903 Herschel menagerie. I rode the ostrich.

The old lifesaving station now houses a pretty good museum. It’s hard to believe all the people saved with the equipment they had available.  Those guys were crazy brave.

Entirely unrelated to life saving, the museum houses Crazy Sal, a larger than life mannequin with a truly maniacal laugh. She was rescued from some long defunct funhouse along the boardwalk.  Very creepy.

As we stroll past Dollies, the heavy sweet smell of fresh caramel corn beckons me. I can not resist.  I tell the gal she needn’t seal up the bag, so true.  It is fantastic and before long is all gone.  We get pulled in at Thrashers too.

Mammoth kites float above the north end of the beach. Hilariously cute ground kites, crabs, are tethered to sand bags and dance along the sand like live creatures when the wind blows.  A bit further along, music is blaring so we go to check it out.  It is a stunt kite competition.  Choreographed much like a gymnast’s floor routine the handler adriotly maneuvers the kite in square turns, spirals, sweeps and amazing ballet-like soft touch and go landings.  Judges score them.  I haven’t a clue what the criteria might be.

It is 90F and the sun is blazing. We pack up our slightly sunburned selves and head home.  This could be a fun place to hang out with a group of friends for a few.

It is a bit hazy but the sun is warm and the beach time relaxing. A few kites fly overhead and puppies play in the surf.   Just beyond the furthest breakers a fin appears.  One, two, an entire pod.  Not sharks though, a pod of dolphins, or porpoise (I always forget which lives where) passes by.  Within the next half hour or so several more groups pass by.  The fishing out there must be good.

It is windy and as evening falls it gets pretty cool but we manage a campfire. It just isn’t camping without at least one night of roasting marshmallows and watching the mesmerizing flames.  It made for a perfect last night for Tammy’s visit.

Oh, the campground ponies made a close up visit. Ms-T and her stallion walked within 5 feet of the fire pit while we all sat around it.  They just stood there; maybe keeping warm?  Maybe using the smoke to run off flies?  Maybe waiting for their marshmallow?  We actually had to make some noise and run them off before they got too pushy.

A trek across the dune trail led us to toads, turtles, a snake and a band of ponies. From our perch upon the boardwalk at the beach we watched that same group on horses head out toward the surf.  Some rolled in the sand, others faced into the salty air.  It is wonderful to see them in their natural environment.  Never mind the occasional crazy person who moved right up among them with their kid or their dog to get that once in a lifetime picture.

By late afternoon it was the horses that ere invading personal space. The most brazen of the mares waked right up behind an unsuspecting couple in those low beach chairs watching the surf.  She dropped her head to their shoulders to check out what eats they might have.  Another of the group picked out the gals backpack.  It all came to an end when the pony patrol folks came and ran the band off to less populated area…they thought….the horses ended up in the Oceanside campground.  I suspect they found snacks there.  People are not careful enough with their food and coolers and horses have learned how to open about anything.  With the entertainment gone off the beach, we head back to camp.

Barnes and Noble provided a perfect place to hide out from more cool wet weather. We perused the travel section and found lots of guide books to plan our trip to Australia next spring.  We’ve been talking about the trip but need to begin planning in earnest very soon.

The horses are on the move this afternoon. We encountered a total of 6 browsing along the roadside on our way back from town.  Later, three came galloping through camp; one with his ears pinned back and in a bit of a biting attitude.  We’ve no idea what set them off but they are great to watch.

A small band frequents camp and they walked right past us; within 3 feet of me as I stood next to Tammy’s car. It was a bit un-nerving but very cool.  They smelled pretty bad though.

It is still in the 50s and it rains off and on so we are holed up playing a board game (with made up rules), working a jigsaw puzzle and baking cookies. It hasn’t exactly been a beach day but it has been a good chance to just hang out together.

First stop, a big bucket of Thrasher’s fries. There wasn’t even a line, it is 55F and raining!  Still, it was worth the chilly walk.  I played a little skee ball and my favorite, air hockey.  I won by the way, too bad Kent.  We ducked into a café to warm up and plot our lunch plans.

The restaurant of choice, Shark’s on the Harbor. The crab cakes were fantastic and my tilefish with blood orange glace was so yummy.  The fried green tomato appetizer all disappeared too.  I never really liked pimento cheese but their homemade version sure worked on both the tomatoes and the whole grain fresh bread.  The desserts sounded marvelous but everyone was too full to go for it.

From our table we overlooked the harbor so watched a fishing trawler unload and gulls trolling for a handout. We all left happy