On The Way Out Of Town - Deleware Side Trip

One of Fresh Pond Park's trails

Earlier in the week, I had a chance to quickly look at Fresh Pond State Park near Bethany Beach, Delaware. I drove Jan to over on Wednesday so she could catch up with a friend there for a few days. As it turned out, I spent the night rather than turning around and driving back to Annapolis the same day. On the way out of town around noon on Maryland highway 26, I kept an eye out for a wildlife area sign I noticed last year during our first trip, as well as when driving into Bethany Beach this time. I parked and took a thirty minute walk down one of the roads in the park.

Virginia Pine bark and local environs

I hadn't walked before in an eastern coastal pine forest. It had a completely different feel to it than the hard wood forests in the Mid-Atlantic region, or the fir forests back home in Oregon. The pine forest smelled dry, and when the wind blew, Pitch Pine or Pinus viginiana limbs rub-against-limb and give off a dry grinding sound. The soil was sandy - naturally because of the close proximity to the ocean.

Wetland marsh beyond the treeline

The trail cut through the woods, and then passed by a lake surrounded by more trees, - eventually I was then led to a wetland marsh area. There were a number of bird songs that could be heard in the distance - the Red-winged Blackbird being the only one I recognized. Since it was mid-day, it wasn't the best birding time. Off over the distant horizon, a vulture was circling. Looking later at a map for the area, I saw that the State Park borders Highway 1 that runs right along

Cricket on pine needles

the coast. This area is just a little ways inland from the Atlantic Ocean. I wanted to get on with my drive home, so after looking around a little, I headed by on the the train the way I had come. I hoped to see some more birds, only caught a photograph of a grasshopper that was settling near the middle of the road. The road was fortified with crushed rock in low places - it seemed obvious that when storms come through, things get pretty wet.

Blue Grossbeak perched on a sign

As I existed the forest road on my way back to the parking lot, I happened on a Blue Grossbeak perched on one of the signs directing visitors to roads to various-numbered deer stands - I assume for viewing and not shooting.  I thought it was an Eastern Bluebird, but after getting back home and enlarging the image in Photoshop, and then breaking out my Stokes Field Guide To Birds, Eastern Edition, I was pleased to have identified a species I hadn't come across. I bought the Stokes Guide last year at the Nature Center for Assateaque National Seashore right after we visited Bethany Beach for the first time.

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The sign that first caught my eye

Another surprise from my side trip off Highway 26 was the Antique Prints shop at 42 Central Avenue - just a little ways north of the intersection. I noticed the open sign when heading to Fresh Pond State Park, so on the way back to the highway, I stopped in for a quick look - the stop was worth it. After going back out to my car to get my reading glasses, I looked around on the main floor. There were many thousands of old prints for lots of themes: nature, geography, historic, maritime. There were even some over-sized Audubon prints (note the Reddish Egret print at the

One of the gallery rooms in the shop

bottom right of the photograph above) - I didn't think to check the price. The shop is a converted house, with different rooms stocking different themed prints and paintings. There is an upstairs, but I didn't look for the staircase. I asked for a brochure and business card - I definitely will want to drop in again on my next trip for a much longer time browsing.