Delta Naturalists Society

A group of 7 met at 8:00 – they were David and Noreen, Warren and Lynn, Roger2, Mike B2, and Marion S.

The spit area was very quiet except for the usual Ring-billed Gulls accompanied by a singular California Gull, Savannah sparrows,and a juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird, plus several harbour seals kept an eye on us from the water.

The route to and in the Rene Savenye area was more productive for birds, and we found House Finches, Northern Flicker, Starlings, Anna’s Hummingbirds, American Goldfinch, Bald Eagle, both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Purple Martin, Great Blue Heron, spotted Towhee, Common Yellowthroat.

We walked the narrow path surrounded by water on both sides, and had good looks at Killdeer, and a distant flock of mixed peeps, the majority of which were Least Sandpipers, along with some Western Sandpipers, and one suspected Semi-palmated Sandpiper which may be confirmed as correct, or not. We are casual birders, even though we like to be able to identify what we see, sometimes we struggle. An Orange-crowned Warbler led us down the path for a while, and at the end, David spotted a Peregrine Falcon.

Large patches of Tansy provided many bees good grazing, and we discovered a plant growing alongside it which we tentatively identified as Fern-leaf Yarrow, which has a large yellow head on it.  On the return to the spit, Lidia spotted a Mourning Dove, and we found Mallards and Gadwall ducks, caught sight of a Bewick’s Wren briefly which we identified by sound mainly, and we saw Tree and  Violet-green Swallows, and Red-winged Blackbirds.

Some folks took the path through the woods, while two others returned the way we came.  As we exited the parking lot just after the washrooms, we spotted a Falcon being chased by a small group of persistent crows who were determined to chase it away. Photos confirmed it as a Merlin, best bird  of the day. 
Marion S.

Photos are on flickr

David’s eBird list
35 species
Gadwall 22
Mallard 143
Mourning Dove 1
Anna’s Hummingbird 7
Killdeer 9
Least Sandpiper 8
Semipalmated Sandpiper 1
Western Sandpiper 26
Greater Yellowlegs 66
Lesser Yellowlegs 1
Ring-billed Gull 125
California Gull 1
Great Blue Heron 43
Bald Eagle 6
Downy Woodpecker 1 Heard
Northern Flicker 3
Merlin 1
Peregrine Falcon 1
American Crow 9
Black-capped Chickadee 8
Purple Martin 22
Tree Swallow 3
Violet-green Swallow 5
Bewick’s Wren 1 Heard
European Starling 1
American Robin 4
House Finch 10
American Goldfinch 11
Savannah Sparrow 6
Song Sparrow 1
Spotted Towhee 2
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Brown-headed Cowbird 4
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 1 Heard