Delta Naturalists Society

The Tuesday people were lucky with the weather. Despite a wet forecast, the rain stopped before 7am. It was windy and cold when 5 of us met on the Tsawwassen ferry causeway at 7:45. But the wind had died down and the sky was clearing when 14 met at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary at 9am. It became positively hot and some layers of clothing were removed before we left at noon.

The 5 were Mike, Lorna, Glen, Chris. Terry. The 14 were Lorna, Susan, Louise, Terry, Pat, Chris, Brian, Lidia, Glen, Mike B1, Mike B2, John, Angela A, Roger 2.

From the ferry causeway we saw Cormorants, Loons, Horned Grebes, and Black Oystercatchers. But we did not see any of the usual diving ducks.

From the Fraser River lookout on River Road and 34th St there was one adult Mute Swan and two juvenile Mute Swans on their own. The juveniles had black bills and we thought that they could have been Trumpeter Swans. Mel confirmed that they were Mute Swans. Farther along the river was a large group of white birds. They turned out to be gulls, not Snow Geese. However there were Snow Geese in the fields on Westham Island.

At Reifel, the pond behind the gift shop had a large mixed flock of Yellowlegs and Dowitchers along with some Mallards. About a dozen Mallards were paddling around in a tight circle. An internet search found that they do that to bring to the surface the algae and plants that they feed on.

After Kathleen took our group photo, we followed the east and north dyke trails to the lookout tower. Along the way we were followed by chickadees and we saw Golden-crowned, Song, Fox and Lincoln’s Sparrows, Juncos, Towhees, Robins, Blackbirds, Wood Ducks, and Green-winged Teal. We took a short detour to look for bright red Amanita muscaria mushrooms. We stopped at the new Ewen Slough bird blind where a Kingfisher flew very close. From the viewing tower we watched four Northern Harriers patrolling the marsh and foreshore.

Following the Centre Dyke trail to the viewing platform we added several more duck species – Gadwall, American Wigeon, Hooded Merganser, and Northern Pintail. Along the way were Pine Siskins, Yellow-rumped Warblers, American Goldfinches, Cedar Waxwings, a Coot and a Pied-billed Grebe. Along the southwest loop we saw more Dowitchers, Yellowlegs, and a Dunlin. Northern Shovelers made our eighth duck species.
Terry Carr

Photos on flickr

Brian’s eBird list
48 species
400 Snow Goose — Outside of the refuge, in the field by access road
15 Canada Goose
12 Wood Duck
8 Northern Shoveler
9 Gadwall
5 American Wigeon
X Mallard
10 Northern Pintail
6 Green-winged Teal
8 Hooded Merganser
1 Pied-billed Grebe
20 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
2 Anna’s Hummingbird
1 Virginia Rail — Heard
1 American Coot
1 Dunlin
80 Long-billed Dowitcher
90 Greater Yellowlegs
1 Lesser Yellowlegs
2 Glaucous-winged Gull
25 Great Blue Heron (Great Blue)
4 Northern Harrier
1 Bald Eagle
1 Red-tailed Hawk
4 Belted Kingfisher
2 Downy Woodpecker
4 Northern Flicker
1 Merlin
1 Peregrine Falcon
2 American Crow
40 Black-capped Chickadee
3 Barn Swallow (American)
3 Marsh Wren
30 European Starling
25 American Robin
12 Cedar Waxwing
12 House Sparrow
10 Pine Siskin
2 American Goldfinch
1 Fox Sparrow (Sooty)
8 Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)
1 Golden-crowned Sparrow
11 Song Sparrow
3 Lincoln’s Sparrow
7 Spotted Towhee
12 Red-winged Blackbird
1 Brown-headed Cowbird
6 Yellow-rumped Warbler