Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge

Saturday October 2nd was an absolutely PERFECT day! The skies were crystal clear, the sun was bright, and it was in the high 60's! Perfect! I had originally planned to check out Bombay Hook Natl. Wildlife Refuge (near Dover) and then mosey down a few hours to Prime Hook NWR, but this was a large refuge at nearly
16,000 acres and I was having a
great time!

I spent a portion of my day just wandering around looking at all of the migrating butterflies like this Monarch!







Hold on there little guy, wind is picking up!








Also found this old Swallowtail.








I meandered down the butterfly lined path to an observation tower, to find several dozen Northern Shovelers. In a few more weeks, this pond will be loaded with Snow Geese and Canadian Geese and all sorts of other migrating waterfowl.



This butterfly seemed to fit right in with the leaves! I have no clue as to the species.







I think this may be a Spring Azure butterfly. It was VERY tiny, maybe slightly bigger than my thumbnail!








And bees......everywhere there was pollen, it was constant buzzing! Glad I didn't get stung!






I found a boardwalk trail that took me further into the marsh on the banks of a small drainage and I saw about a hundred Fiddler Crabs!

A juvenile Great Blue Heron wades into deeper marsh waters to find some nutrition.

Pretty soon, the tide rose and all of the exposed surfaces were underwater.

Near the end, I took a hike through a wooded trail and ended up in this large field of yellow flowers, the buzzing of the bees was deafening! Pretty soon it was nearing 4pm and I decided I should start heading for my overnight destination in Salisbury, Maryland. And I had one more stop to make....
the Mason Dixon Line. Now, the
books said there was a monument
at the site of the start of the Mason Dixon Line. After passing it twice, I finally decided that what they meant by a monument, was only a historical marker! But did you know that the Mason Dixon line was a land survey done between 1763 to 1767 by 2 men, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, to resolve a border dispute between British Colonies in North America that lasted nearly a century! And I thought it only had relevance in respect to the American Civil War! Did you? P.S. For dinner I feasted on all things Maryland..a combo platter of...crab cake , Maryland chicken, (and to celebrated being in Salisbury), Salisbury steak! How's that for getting into the local tastes!