Exploring Cape Henlopen (Again)
Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the holiday season and are ready to rock and roll in the new year!
As we get back into the Adventure Blog with this first post of the year, I decided to go with another post about exploring Cape Henlopen - also known as The Point - in Lewes. This time last year, I did a similar post about it, but after a recent walk around the cape, decided to go back and revisit it. Not only is this one of the coolest environments in Coastal Delaware, but it also one of my favorite places to walk/hike in the off-season.
Every time I walk the Point, I am always amazed at what I see - and I typically try to stagger the time of day I do it for that same reason. I also try to make sure I do the walk shortly after it opens in the fall (the oceanside portion, anyway, as the bayside stays closed about a month or so longer than the oceanside to allow endangered beach nesting birds ample time before starting their southern migration), and then a few times over the course of the winter months as well. Doing the walks at different times of day and during different seasons/weather conditions increases the amount of wildlife you can see on the walks - in the late fall, you can potentially spot piping plovers, black skimmers, and other beach nesting birds, while the winter months bring eagles, peregrine falcons, and in some rare cases snowy owls (though I personally have never been fortunate enough to spot one myself).
My Most Recent Hike
The last time I ventured out to make the hike was a day or two after Christmas 2024. I had some down time from my real estate photography, as I wanted to take some time off around the holidays, so I headed out one morning to see what I could find.
Normally when I do this hike, I only take my camera and one lens (generally my Sigma 150 - 600 mm telephoto), but this time I opted to take my whole bag so I could change lenses if I wanted. This proved to be quite worthwhile, as I was able to capture wider landscapes with my other lenses, while the telephoto granted me the opportunity to get a few wildlife shots of some ducks. The longer zoom lens also let me get some new shots of the Harbor of Refuge and East End Lighthouse from the beach.
The Lighthouses
Of course, no walk around Cape Henlopen would be complete without snapping a few shots of the two lighthouses like I mentioned earlier.
It seems no matter how many times I photograph the lighthouses, I always find myself going back and taking more pictures of them. They are such iconic landmarks in Lewes, so how could I not?
By the time I got around and was in position to work with the East End Lighthouse, the sun had finished coming up. Despite this, I found an angle close to the tip of the Cape where some small dunes framed the lighthouse really nicely. Of course, I did also get a photo or two where, as mentioned earlier, I spotted some eagles out by it as well. Though they serve as just a small detail in those images, they are definitely a welcome one - if you look really closely at the image below, you can see them if you look for their namesake white heads!
Go Explore Cape Henlopen!
Thanks for tagging along on this first blog post of 2025, and stay tuned for even more adventures to come!
See you out there!
- Tyler
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