The alphabet, told in Delaware plants and animals

Delaware alphabet: B is for Belemnites, Delaware's state fossil. These were dug up by campers on the the levees from the C&D canal below the Reedy Point Bridge near Delaware City.

Delaware alphabet: C is for the Coastal Zone Act. It was meant to protect Delaware's natural treasures such as these wetlands at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge along Rt. 16.

Delaware alphabet: D is for the Delmarva fox squirrel. It disappeared from Delaware and had to be reintroduced 16 times from Maryland before the population grew again.

Delaware alphabet: E is for the egg collection at the Delaware Museum of Natural History. It has 36,000 clutches, making it North America’s second-largest egg collection.

Delaware alphabet: F is for fireflies. Delaware is home to 11 species of them.

Delaware alphabet: G is for the Great Cypress Swamp. Here, bald cypress seeds and trees thrive in Delaware Wild Lands’ Great Cypress Swamp.

Delaware alphabet: H is for horseshoe crabs.Here, the crabs spawn at Delaware Wild Lands’ Milford Neck Beach in Kent County.

Delaware alphabet: I is for Indian River chickens. George Ellis of Ocean View developed the Indian River chicken breed around 1940. It went on to dominate the broiler industry here for 20 years.

Delaware alphabet: J is for jellfish. The sea nettle variety of jellyfish causes swimmers angst during Delaware's hottest summer months.

Delaware alphabet: K is for kestral. The country's smallest falcons, American kestrals have seen their population decline 90 percent in recent years.

Delaware alphabet: L is for laughing gulls. These Laughing gulls line the Delaware Bay.

Delaware alphabet: M is for muskrat.

Delaware alphabet: N is for Nemours and other public gardens. Nemours, a Delaware estate built by A.I. du Pont, is based on the Petit Trianon and gardens of Versailles in France.

Delaware alphabet: O is for orchids, especially Ladies’ tresses (Spiranthes cernua odorata), first found by Bear resident Dick Ryan in the 1960s.

Delaware alphabet: P is for piping plovers. The population of the tiny birds seems to be rebounding in Delaware.

Delaware alphabet: Q is for Quahogs. Also called hard clams, theysupport commercial and recreational clammers in in the Rehoboth and Indian River bays.

Delaware alphabet: R is for Red knots. These birds are drawn to Delaware by the abundance of protein-rich horseshoe crab eggs.

Delaware alphabet: S is for squirrel heads. The state used to offer bounties for the heads of squirrels, foxes, bears, wolves, hawks and crows.

Delaware alphabet: T is for terrapin. The diamond-backed terrapin is common in Delaware waters.

Delaware alphabet: U is for Utricularia.

Delaware alphabet: V is for vultures. Here, a turkey vulture flies low over a crowd at a White Clay Creek Fest.

Delaware alphabet: W is for white-tailed deer. These deer were prominent in Delaware's Colonial days, died back but then returned in such huge numbers the state has three programs to thin them out.

Delaware alphabet: X marks the spot for geocaching. Delaware's 17 public parts, as well as other state locations, participate in the national past-time.

Delaware alphabet: Y is for yellow poplars, also called tulip trees. Here, they are flowering at Ashland Nature Center. The tallest tree in Delaware is a 173-foot tall yellow poplar at Winterthur.