Flights: Southwest, came to $100 roundtrip.
Car: Budget, Chevy Cobalt. Not what I really wanted but it was acceptable. Less tinny than I remember at least.
Hotels: just grabbed whatever I could find, all were acceptable without being anything extra. All had internet access so I was able to stay on top of things.
List (105 total, 61 NJ, 90 DE):
Snow Goose – thousands at Prime Hook, big flock at Gordon’s Pond, few at Bombay Hook
Brant – few at Avalon, good numbers near Indian River Inlet
Canada Goose
Mute Swan – Cape May Point State Park
Tundra Swan – 40ish at Bombay Hook
Wood Duck – 1 Bombay Hook
Gadwall – CMPSP
American Wigeon – CMPSP
American Black Duck – scattered in DE
Mallard
Northern Shoveler – handful to few hundred at most Delaware stops
Green-winged Teal – 1 Gordon’s Pond, 20ish Bombay Hook
Canvasback – 50ish Silver Lake
Lesser Scaup – 2 with the Canvasback
Common Eider – few at Avalon
Scoters – all 3 species at Avalon and Indian River (mostly Black and Surf), plus a few at CHSP
Long-tailed Duck – 4 each at Avalon and Indian River Inlet
Bufflehead – small numbers at coastal DE spots
Hooded Merganser – couple at Silver Lake, Gordon’s Pond, and Bombay Hook
Red-breasted Merganser – Avalon and Gordon’s Pond
Ruddy Duck – most ponds
Red-throated Loon – hundreds at Avalon, few at Indian River and CHSP
Common Loon – few at Avalon and Indian River
Pied-billed Grebe – 2 at Gordon’s Pond, 1 at Lums Pond
Northern Gannet – hundreds at Avalon, few at DE sites
Double-crested Cormorant – 100 or so at Avalon, 50ish at Silver Lake, etc
Great Cormorant – 4 Indian River
Great Blue Heron – 1 along the Garden State Parkway was interesting
Great Egret – 1 at Prime Hook, 2-3 at Bombay Hook
Snowy Egret – 1 Gordon’s Pond
Black Vulture – 2 over the highway in Monroeville NJ, 1 over I95 in Maryland
Turkey Vulture – all over
Bald Eagle – 3 at Silver Lake, 5 together at Gordon’s Pond, 2 Prime Hook, 3 Bombay Hook
Northern Harrier – several at most appropriate spots
Sharp-shinned Hawk – 1 along New England Rd in Cape May
Cooper’s Hawk – flyovers along the highway in NJ and DE
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel – couple just outside Bombay Hook
American Coot – 10+ Bombay Hook, 10+ along Rt. 9 north of Bombay Hook
Killdeer – 1 along Rt. 9
American Oystercatcher – 1 past Avalon
American Avocet – 40ish at Bombay Hook
Greater Yellowlegs – 4 Bombay Hook
Willet/Hudsonian Godwit – 1 Bombay Hook
Marbled Godwit – 4 Bombay Hook
Ruddy Turnstone – 10ish Indian River
Sanderling – 1 Avalon, 10-20 DE coastal sites
Dunlin – 300+ Bombay Hook, 10ish Port Mahon Rd
Purple Sandpiper – 40ish Avalon, 3 Indian River
Long-billed Dowitcher – 20 Bombay Hook
Bonaparte’s Gull – Indian River and Gordon’s Pond (Black-headed among them there but I never got on it)
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull – 3 Gordon’s Pond, others had at CHSP
Great Black-backed Gull
Forster’s Tern – Indian River and CHSP
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Barred Owl – 1 Bombay Hook (Finis Pond area)
Belted Kingfisher – 1 Bombay Hook
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tree Swallow – 2 Gordon’s Pond
Carolina Chickadee – Higbee, CHSP, Prime Hook, Lums Pond
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch – 1 Avalon, 5 CHSP
Brown-headed Nuthatch – 6 CHSP
Brown Creeper – CHSP, Bombay Hook
Carolina Wren
Winter Wren – Prime Hook, Lums Pond
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
Gray Catbird – Higbee
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher – Higbee
European Starling
American Pipit – 1 Bombay Hook (by the owl, likely some more in the fields just outside the refuge but I couldn’t refind them on the ground)
Cedar Waxwing – 5+ Higbee
Yellow-rumped Warbler – all over
Eastern Towhee – 2 Higbee
Field Sparrow – Lums Pond
Fox Sparrow – Higbee
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow – Higbee, Bombay Hook
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow – 5 Bombay Hook Visitor’s Center
Dark-eyed Junco
Snow Bunting – 1 Bombay Hook (Raymond Pool)
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Rusty Blackbird – 1 Bombay Hook
Common Grackle – 10,000+ along Rt. 1 near Odessa, DE, 3000 at BWI
Boat-tailed Grackle – 10+ at Indian River
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow