Delta Naturalists Society

6 folks met at 8:00am at Joe Brown park—Mike B 2, Gabriel, Jean, David, Noreen, and I (Marion S.). We were later joined by Margaretha.

We began on the woods trail from 125A, but it was eerily quiet. Perhaps the cool, cloudy and windy weather kept the birds in bed longer, but birdsong was scarce.  We went to the trail on the right side of the road thru the park, to try to find the Barred Owls reported the day before, and it didn’t take long before the team came up with the two, one perched in a tree, and the other about 20’ further along and lower, on a short post, actively watching the ground for something to eat. At one point, he left his perch, caught and consumed something, and returned to the perch. We observed them for a long time, and returned on our way back to the cars to find them again for Margaretha. We thought they are likely this year’s offspring, siblings, and they were communicating with a sound unknown to us, a high-pitched raspy call, which David managed to record and post on e-bird. David also provided some entertainment for one of the birds when he accidentally fell backwards onto the soft ground. The bird hunched over and gawked, clearly trying to make sense of the human assuming an unidentifiable pose on the ground.

Highlights of day were the Barred Owls, Western Tanagers which some managed to see, and we all heard, Black-headed Grosbeaks seen and heard calling to each other, Bewick’s Wren, Pacific Wren (heard), many Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Pacific-slope Flycatchers (heard), American Goldfinch (frequently heard and finally seen), but no Warblers.

We noticed quite a bit more bird song as the sun emerged. 23 species seen—birding is a co-operative competitive sport. 
Marion S.

eBird List – 23 species
Anna’s Hummingbird 1
Glaucous-winged Gull 1
Bald Eagle 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Barred Owl 2
Northern Flicker 2
Pacific-slope Flycatcher 4
American Crow 1
Black-capped Chickadee 11
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 8
Brown Creeper 2 Heard only
Pacific Wren 1 Heard
Bewick’s Wren 1
Swainson’s Thrush 2 Heard
American Robin 9
Cedar Waxwing 1
House Finch 1
American Goldfinch 5
Dark-eyed Junco 1
Song Sparrow 1
Spotted Towhee 5
Western Tanager 2 One Heard only
Black-headed Grosbeak 3 Two seen