DNREC’s DuPont Nature Center set to host programs Sept. 2 and 6 celebrating World Shorebirds Day
The DNREC DuPont Nature Center at Mispillion Harbor Reserve will host two programs Sept. 2 and 6 highlighting World Shorebirds Day, which takes place annually in September to celebrate shorebirds around the globe.
Delaware’s 2017 horseshoe crab commercial fishery to close June 22, with harvest quota reached
DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife announced today that Delaware’s 2017 commercial harvest quota of 162,136 male horseshoe crabs has been met, and that the horseshoe crab fishery will close at 12:01 a.m., Thursday, June 22 in accordance with Delaware law and regulations. The fishery will remain closed the rest of the year.
DNREC’s DuPont Nature Center to host Peace, Love & Horseshoe Crab Festival on May 20
The DuPont Nature Center at Mispillion Harbor Reserve, a DNREC Division of Fish & Wildlife facility, will host its eighth annual Peace, Love & Horseshoe Crab Festival, celebrating the spring arrival of migrating shorebirds and spawning horseshoe crabs, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 20 at the center, located at 2992 Lighthouse Road, east of Milford, DE 19963, near Slaughter Beach. Admission is free.
Additional closure needed to assist beachnesters at the Point at Cape Henlopen State Park
On March 1, the Point at Cape Henlopen State Park was closed for migratory and beach nesting shorebirds. The closed sections, including a stretch of ocean beach and dunes, and a half mile along the bay shoreline, were marked with PVC poles and twine with flagging for visibility. The closure benefits threatened and endangered beachnesters and migratory shorebirds, including red knot, piping plovers, oystercatchers, least terns and other wildlife. This week, the closure will be extended approximately 100 yards south toward the Point parking area crossing. In addition, another adjustment to the southern boundary may occur as early as May 14.
Shorebird and horseshoe crab connection highlighted in new film from the Delaware Shorebird Project
The Delaware Shorebird Project today premiered Feast on the Beach: The Delaware Bay Horseshoe Crab Shorebird Connection, a film produced to raise awareness and understanding about the ecological connection between horseshoe crabs and shorebirds migrating through the Delaware Bay area, as well as the researchers who study them.
