Delta Naturalists Society

Several Delta Nats participated in the Ladner Christmas Bird Count on Saturday, December 21.  Each Christmas Bird Count is conducted on a single day between December 14 and January 5.  Counts are carried out within a 24-km diameter circle that stays the same from year to year.  The Ladner Christmas Bird Count includes Tsawwassen, Point Roberts and south Richmond.  Ladner and Victoria usually compete for the highest species total in Canada – usually over 140.

The Ladner count area is divided into 11 sub-areas. Not all areas reported at the post-count gathering at Reifel.  Without the missing areas and the feeder counts, the preliminary total was 128.

This is a report on Area I, which is Tsawwassen east of 56th St, from Highway 17 to the border, including Beach Grove, Centennial Beach and Boundary Bay. Our total was 70 species.  Some Delta Nats participated in some of the other sub-areas.

There are photos on our flickr site at https://www.flickr.com/search/?group_id=3027315%40N23&view_all=1&text=2019-53

We left Petra’s at 8 am and broke into two groups.  Roger, David, Noreen, Brian, Louise and Larry covered Centennial Beach and Boundary Bay. Terry, Alan, Syd, Debbi and Liz W covered Beach Grove.  It was overcast and windy but the rain held off.  There were not the usual large flocks of ducks, gulls and shorebirds in Boundary Bay.  But 1535 Brant Geese were counted.

Highlights were a Red-breasted Sapsucker and a White-throated Sparrow.

Red-breasted Sapsucker.  Photo by Terry Carr.
                          White-throated Sparrow.  Photo by Kathryn Milligan.

Our count included eleven raptors – Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Barn Owl, Short-eared Owl, Peregrine Falcon, Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Harrier, Merlin, Cooper’s Hawk, American Kestrel and 39 Bald Eagles.

Short -eared Owl.  Photo by David Hoar.

Cooper’s Hawk.  Photo by David Hoar.

Northern Harrier.  Photo by David Hoar.

American Kestrel.  Photo by David Hoar.

A flock of Canada Geese behind the South Delta Recreation Centre included Cackling Geese and Greater White-fronted Geese.

One small pond in Beach Grove Golf Course had Mallards, American Wigeon, Hooded Mergansers, a Gadwall, a Northern Shoveler, a Bufflehead and a Ring-necked Duck.

We also counted 1 Killdeer, 11 Yellowlegs, 144 Sanderling, 10 Anna’s Hummingbirds, 5 Downy Woodpeckers, 16 Flickers, 1 Steller’s Jay, 40 Black-capped Chickadess, 2 Chestnut-backed Chickadees, 12 Bushtits, 3 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 1 Brown Creeper, 3 Bewick’s Wrens, 1 Marsh Wren, 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet, 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 23 Robins, 30 Starlings, 16 Towhees, 8 Fox Sparrows, 11 Song Sparrows, 5 White-crowned Sparrows, 40 Golden-crowned Sparrows, 38 Juncos, 10 Red-winged Blackbirds, 20 Brewer’s Blackbirds, 48 House Finches, 18 Goldfinches and 11 House Sparrows.

The next DNCB Outing will be Tuesday, January 7 to White Rock and Blackie Spit, leaving Petra’s at 7:30 am and meeting at White Rock Pier at 8 am. There is free parking until 10 am.

Don’t forget our DNS Monthly Meeting on Tues. January 5, 7:30 at Benediction Lutheran Church, featuring guest Speaker Jocelyn Demers presenting his film “The Future of Birds“.

For more information on our outings, meetings and events, plus reports and photos, see our website at https://dncb.wordpress.com

Terry Carr