Delta Naturalists Society

Eleven hardy souls gathered at 9 AM in the SE winds and hoped for the rain to hold off during our stroll along the dyke.  Lidia had arrived earlier when there were still a few sandbars, but the low pressure combined with the SE wind had brought a “Storm Surge” high tide which had obliterated the beach by the time we started.

There were a few logs near the shore where all the peeps and plovers wanted to land, and quite a few ducks along the shore, but the high water and wind kept the shore birds playing musical chairs. No serious rain was in sight, so we decided to head to the pilings as there were birds further along the shore.

A Peregrine Falcon, Northern Harrier, and several crows overflew us and several species of small birds including House Finch, Spotted Towhee, House Sparrows, Dark-eyed Junco, and one Yellow-rumped Warbler could be seen in the trees along the ditch.  There were Pacific Crab Apple that are popular with the finches but we could not identify a Purple Finch in the group. A few Northern Shovelers were inshore of the Northern Pintails along the shore, and groups of Snow Geese could be seen struggling to make any headway against the strong wind.  They seemed to just “fly in place” as if participating in a wind tunnel experiment.

Murmurations of  Dunlin could be seen offshore; a few small flights crossed the dyke and flew along the fields. A pair of American Pipits flew overhead making their characteristic flight call. From a distance, a Peregrine Falcon could be seen on the pilings using the spotting scope but by the time we got close it was gone and only Black-bellied Plovers were on the pilings.  A log driven against the pilings by the wind was occupied by shore birds and a plover. Flights of Dunlin would approach and jockey for spots on the log.  A single Black-bellied Plover and many Dunlin were obvious, but a close look identified a smaller peep (there were actually two seen in photographs).  A view through the spotting scope revealed black legs and perhaps a slight rufous tinge on the central back.  It did eventually untuck its bill, and it was a Western Sandpiper (both of them).

The wind was picking up so Terry took a group photo and we headed back.  On the return, Terry and Jonathan got photos of a singleton Sanderling and Terry saw a White-crowned Sparrow.  There were lots of Dunlin along the shore feeding, but with the high tide they were in the wrack (seaweed tideline) and not easily seen because of the Tansy and blackberry vines.

We only experienced a brief shower on our trip, and although the incessant wind made standing still for photography a bit of a challenge, we saw 25 species, some identified from photos such as the singleton Cackling Goose in the midst of the offshore Snow Goose flock, and some American Wigeon further offshore.
David Hoar

The Group included Lorna, Johnny Mac, Mike B1, Jonathan, Noreen, Manli, Lidia, Pat S, Lorraine, Terry (photographer) and David.

Photos will be added to flickr

David’s eBird checklist with some photos here

Boundary Bay - 104th St., Delta, Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, CA
26-Oct-2021 9:14 AM - 10:42 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.15 kilometer(s)
Checklist Comments:     Storm surge tide high by 9 AM.  Strong SE winds.
25 species

Snow Goose  425     Flock on water offshore counted from photo 285 and one cackling goose with them.
Cackling Goose  1     Picked out in photo-  Mixed in with 285 snow geese
Northern Shoveler  7
American Wigeon  12     Probably many more further out in the waves
Northern Pintail  250     Many more distant probably also may pintail
Black-bellied Plover  25
Sanderling  1
Dunlin  3000     Large murmurations offshore.
Western Sandpiper  2
Ring-billed Gull  7
Glaucous-winged Gull  8
Northern Harrier  1
Bald Eagle  4
Peregrine Falcon  1
American Crow  15
American Robin  5
House Sparrow  3
American Pipit  2
House Finch  6
Fox Sparrow  1
Dark-eyed Junco  1
White-crowned Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  1
Spotted Towhee  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  1

View this checklist with some photos online