On my last day in Delaware, I visited Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge. Also, I finally learned that "hook" is from the Dutch word for "point," which clears up one mystery.
Bombay Hook isn't a place to go if you want to feel like a badass hiker - there are two miles of trails total, all dead flat, although there were some folks walking on parts of the 12-mile auto loop. But that's not what it is designed for, recreationally speaking; it's for hard-core bird watching. Even on Christmas Eve there were folks out with scopes and binoculars. In any case, I was sick, and two flat miles were enough for me.
I drove the auto loop and walked each of the five trails, four of which are .25 miles and one of which is a mile. Three of them have wildlife viewing towers.
The highlight of the trip was not while hiking, however. While driving along Shearness Pool - a popular place for bird-watchers to stop - I saw a large flock of birds in the sky. I mean literally the largest flock I have ever seen, thousands of birds with no end in sight. All of them landed in Shearness Pool. They were snow geese (thanks helpful park signs and Google!) heading south for the winter.
This isn't a great quality video - I was on my phone - but it gives you an idea of the immense scale.
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