Fall Bird Migration in Delaware

Two fall movements cross the same narrow state: snow geese filling the Bombay Hook impoundments from October into the November waterfowl peak, and raptors counted daily from a World War II bunker at Cape Henlopen and a hill in the Red Clay Valley.

Agency viewing sites

Species documented

Mapped

Where to stand

Public viewing sites in Delaware

Every place below is one an agency itself describes for watching the fall passage, with the agency named and linked, the species it documents there, the months it names as the peak, and the facility that exists: a tour route, a platform, a tower, a visitor centre. Where the agency wrote a sentence worth reading, it is quoted exactly.

Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge FederalMarquee site

Tidal salt marsh and freshwater impoundments on the west shore of Delaware Bay

Snow goose

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

The refuge's own seasonal calendar puts large numbers of Canada and snow geese arriving in October and calls November the peak of the fall waterfowl migration, with snow geese in both blue and white phases among the birds named. A 12 mile wildlife drive runs the impoundment edge with three observation towers, at Raymond, Bear Swamp and Shearness pools, and five walking trails. The visitor center at 2591 Whitehall Neck Road in Smyrna is open Monday to Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. year round. Dutch Neck Road and the area around the Allee house are closed to all entry from September 1 to February 1.

“Large numbers of Canada and Snow geese arrive.”

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge seasonal calendar, quoted exactly.

Run by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Cape Henlopen Hawk Watch, Cape Henlopen State Park StateMarquee site

Coastal dune platform on a World War II observation bunker at the mouth of Delaware Bay

Broad-winged hawkSharp-shinned hawk

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

DNREC says the station began in 1995 and is run from a viewing platform on top of a historic World War II bunker, 20 metres above sea level, with complete views of the sky and the Atlantic Ocean, and that it documents raptors crossing Delaware Bay from Cape May as well as birds coming down the western shore. A total of 19 species and 9,044 raptors were counted here during the fall 2024 season. The HawkCount profile gives a September 1 to November 30 count season and a sharp-shinned hawk average near 2,100 birds.

“It is run from a viewing platform situated on top of a historic World War II bunker, 20 meters above sea level, providing complete views of the sky and Atlantic Ocean.”

Delaware DNREC, Delaware Hawk Watch, quoted exactly.

Run by DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife with the Division of Parks and Recreation, the Delaware Ornithological Society and the Delaware Nature Society

Ashland Hawk Watch, Ashland Nature Center Public platform

Open hilltop above the Red Clay Valley in the Piedmont of northern Delaware

Broad-winged hawkSharp-shinned hawk

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

DNREC says the Ashland Hawk Watch started in 2007 and is conducted from Ashland Nature Center's Hawk Watch Hill, and that 15 species and 7,938 raptors were counted during the fall 2024 season. The HawkCount profile gives a September 1 to November 30 season, a broad-winged hawk average near 5,400 birds and a season record of 15,511 in 2023, which makes this the state's inland counterweight to the coastal count at Cape Henlopen.

“The Ashland Hawk Watch was started in 2007 and is conducted from Ashland Nature Center's Hawk Watch Hill.”

Delaware DNREC, Delaware Hawk Watch, quoted exactly.

Run by Delaware Nature Society, with DNREC and the Delaware Ornithological Society

Before you drive out to Delaware

Viewing in Delaware is run by Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), Division of Fish and Wildlife, whose own page is the one to read the night before.

That page carries the current picture: whether the auto tour route or platform is open, which units are closed for the season, festival dates, and where the agency counts birds, this week’s count.

Never assume a bird. Cranes, geese and swans move with the weather, so a staging area that held thousands on Tuesday can be nearly empty on Saturday after a front passes, and a warm autumn holds birds to the north for weeks. Never assume access either: a refuge road can be gated, flooded or closed for a unit without notice. Check with the agency before you travel, and stay on the platform, road or tour route it designates when you get there.

Links verified 2026-09-19. If one has moved, search the agency by name.

The map

Delaware sites, refuges and the reporting record

Viewing sites in Delaware, with the national wildlife refuges in the state drawn underneath. The coloured grid is where people have uploaded a verified sandhill crane record to iNaturalist in September, October, November and December, brighter where more have been logged. It is a map of reports rather than of birds: it thickens around refuges, car parks and towns because that is where observers stand, and it shows past reports rather than birds present today. Pins are public viewing sites an agency itself describes; grey dots are US Fish and Wildlife Service refuges and hatcheries, drawn because the refuge system is where most of the staging happens.

When

When the passage peaks in Delaware

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge seasonal calendar, and Delaware DNREC, Delaware Hawk Watch puts the Delaware peak at Large numbers of Canada and snow geese arrive at Bombay Hook in October and November is the peak of the fall waterfowl migration there; DNREC says raptors can be observed migrating in the fall from mid-August through December. That describes a pattern across past autumns. The week itself swings with the weather: a cold front to the north moves cranes and geese south in a single night, and a warm spell holds them for weeks. Dawn and the last hour before dusk are when cranes and geese move between the fields and the water, and that movement is the spectacle the platforms are built for.

Delaware is narrow enough that both of its fall movements answer to the same piece of water. Bombay Hook's impoundments, on the bay's west shore, fill with Canada and snow geese through October and reach the peak of the fall waterfowl migration in November. On the raptor side, DNREC's Division of Fish and Wildlife runs two seasonal count stations with the state parks division, the Delaware Ornithological Society and the Delaware Nature Society: one on a World War II bunker at Cape Henlopen, which picks up birds crossing the bay mouth from Cape May, and one on Hawk Watch Hill at Ashland Nature Center up in the Piedmont. The agency says raptors move through in the fall from mid-August into December, and both stations counted between seven and ten thousand birds in the 2024 season.

Below, one curve per species the agencies document in Delaware: every research grade observation members of the public have uploaded to iNaturalist for the state, by calendar month across every year the platform holds, with September to December shaded. Counts of uploads, so they measure observers as well as birds, and the shape is worth reading where the absolute numbers are not.

Snow goose

836 research grade snow geese observations have been uploaded to iNaturalist for Delaware across every year the platform holds, and 30 percent of them fall in the four shaded autumn months. The busiest month in the record is December. An autumn month carries about 0.85 times as many uploads as an average month outside autumn. People upload most of everything in July, so a bar that rises after that is the stronger signal. Counts of what people reported, measuring observers as well as birds. See the autumn records.

Broad-winged hawk

88 research grade broad-winged hawks observations have been uploaded to iNaturalist for Delaware across every year the platform holds, and 80 percent of them fall in the four shaded autumn months. The busiest month in the record is September. An autumn month carries about 7.78 times as many uploads as an average month outside autumn. People upload most of everything in July, so a bar that rises after that is the stronger signal. Counts of what people reported, measuring observers as well as birds. See the autumn records.

Sharp-shinned hawk

119 research grade sharp-shinned hawks observations have been uploaded to iNaturalist for Delaware across every year the platform holds, and 70 percent of them fall in the four shaded autumn months. The busiest month in the record is October. An autumn month carries about 4.61 times as many uploads as an average month outside autumn. People upload most of everything in July, so a bar that rises after that is the stronger signal. Counts of what people reported, measuring observers as well as birds. See the autumn records.

Sandhill cranes flying in a loose line across a pale open sky, necks held straight out in front and long legs trailing behind them — Sandhill cranes crossing a refuge on the morning flight. The movement is watched from the designated pullout or platform: the birds settle on shallow water for the night, and the roost itself is the one place a viewing site is never placed. “Sandhill cranes flying over Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge (24542820818)” by USFWS Midwest Region from United States, CC BY 2.0

Latest reports

What people have reported in Delaware lately

The most recent research grade autumn observation of each species that anyone has uploaded to iNaturalist for Delaware, as a date and the platform’s own coarse locality. Evidence that people do find snow goose and broad-winged hawk here. Each is one bird on one past day: the flocks move with the weather, so where they are this week is what the agency page and its counts answer.

Checking the most recent autumn uploads for Delaware on iNaturalist...

Where Delaware counts are published

Delaware Hawk Watch, the state's two seasonal raptor count stations daily through the fall season, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Delaware

Elsewhere

Other states with agency designated migration viewing

Questions about Delaware

Where can I watch fall migration in Delaware?

Delaware has 3 agency designated viewing sites in this inventory, 1 of them on federal land: Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, Cape Henlopen Hawk Watch, Cape Henlopen State Park and Ashland Hawk Watch, Ashland Nature Center. Every one is a place Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), Division of Fish and Wildlife or another public agency itself describes for wildlife viewing, listed above with the facility that exists there, the months the agency names and a link to the agency page. Two fall movements cross the same narrow state: snow geese filling the Bombay Hook impoundments from October into the November waterfowl peak, and raptors counted daily from a World War II bunker at Cape Henlopen and a hill in the Red Clay Valley.

When is the fall migration peak in Delaware?

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge seasonal calendar, and Delaware DNREC, Delaware Hawk Watch puts the Delaware peak at Large numbers of Canada and snow geese arrive at Bombay Hook in October and November is the peak of the fall waterfowl migration there; DNREC says raptors can be observed migrating in the fall from mid-August through December. That describes a pattern across past autumns, and the week itself swings with the weather: a cold front to the north moves cranes and geese south in a single night, and a warm spell holds them for weeks. The months named site by site above are the agency's own for each place, and the agency page carries what it says about this season.

Which species are documented at the Delaware sites?

Snow geese at 1 site, broad-winged hawks at 2 sites and sharp-shinned hawks at 2 sites. The species listed for each site are the ones the agency itself documents there in the fall, so a site may hold other migrants the agency page happens to leave out. The month curves further down show when people have reported each of these species in Delaware, as a count of uploads to iNaturalist across every year the platform holds.

Will I definitely see snow geese in Delaware?

A sighting is never certain. Migrating birds move with weather fronts, so a staging area that held thousands on Tuesday can be nearly empty on Saturday after a front passes, and a warm autumn holds birds to the north for weeks. The sites above are the places where an agency has recorded enough birds often enough to build viewing provision, which is the best odds available anywhere. Arrive at first light or in the last hour before dusk, when cranes and geese move between the fields and the water, bring more magnification than you think you need, and stay on the platform, road or tour route the agency designates.

Who publishes current conditions for Delaware?

Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), Division of Fish and Wildlife, linked from the note on this page and from each site above. Its pages carry the things that change: refuge road and auto tour status, seasonal closures of units, festival dates, and in several states a dated crane or goose count from the refuge staff. Those change faster than any third party page can follow, so the agency page is the one to read before you travel.

Where are Delaware migration counts published?

Inventory compiled 2026-09-19 from the agency pages linked above. Agency text is quoted exactly with its source named and linked; the observation curves and latest reports are counts and dates from public uploads to iNaturalist.

Winter eagle watchingThe same refuges and rivers three months later, when the ice concentrates the eagles.Delaware waterfowl seasonThe hunting calendar on the same marshes, worth knowing before standing on a dike in October.Delaware daylight hoursThe dawn and dusk flights are the spectacle, and the clock change moves them.