A dozen or so Casual Birders gathered at White Rock pier in our usual casual way, but were flummoxed when faced with barriers and tape across the pier entrance! Concerns over last night’s big windstorm had caused the closure, but this morning we were enjoying sunshine and blue skies. We quickly adapted our route to the promenade heading east along Semiahmoo Bay, spotting a variety of waterfowl and gulls in the ocean, a few Black Turnstones on the breakwater, and some small birds in the bushes.
After the compulsory group photo (beside the white rock) and a lot of chatter, we ambled back to the pier as the authorities had opened it up. With views of the deeper water, we got views of the target species: Common, Pacific and two Red-throated Loons (the latter well off-shore), Western and Horned Grebes, as well as Barrow’s Goldeneye, Bufflehead, White-winged and Surf Scoters, four Brant, and a variety of Gulls, including California and Iceland Gull.
The next location was Blackie Spit, where we were surprised but happy to see Debbi H. A new level of casual, missing the early morning bit of the trip! We all wandered along the gravel spit, taking note of signage restricting access to shorelines. A pair of Eurasian Wigeon were with a large flock of American Wigeon – this is a very reliable site to find this species – and a few Horned Grebes were swimming offshore. A Red-necked Grebe and several Double-crested Cormorants flew by.
A flock of several hundred Dunlin was gathered at a distance off the tip, and a single Black Oystercatcher seemed out of place on the sand, but otherwise the area was fairly quiet. We missed seeing old favourites like the Long-billed Curlew and Marbled Godwits that were regulars for several years.
Around the corner, a berry-bearing tree had Purple Finches, White-crowned and Song Sparrows, a Spotted Towhee and an American Robin. Hungry birds! In the marshy area nearer the mouth of the Nicomekl, we were surprised to see an Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warbler foraging in a bush, along with two Ruby-crowned Kinglets. Fourteen Great Blue Herons were roosting in their usual spot in the marshy grass area, and Long-billed Dowitchers clustered in the water. Later we saw some Greater Yellowlegs too; these birds can look surprisingly similar when wading half-covered in water. A roost of Double-crested Cormorants was on all the purple-martin nest-box poles.
Our birding “group” gradually drifted away as lunchtime approached, but Terry decided to walk on round to the pumphouse, and Lori and I joined him. It was warm, sunny and fairly bird-less, other than some nice views of the Yellowlegs. Terry suggested a little path through the bushes that gave a view of the Nicomekl River mouth, and while he and I were scanning the water to the left, Lori looked right and said: Pelican! So we were treated to the rare sighting of a White Pelican swimming just a few metres away! Terry got awesome photos and I got the eBird list sent in promptly in case others got a chance to see it. Just as we were leaving, a Belted Kingfisher flew past. A fun ending to a long and entertaining bird walk.
Report by Anne Murray; the other birders were: Terry, Lori, Glen, John, Jonathan, Lorraine, Lorna, Pat Manli, Lidia, Mike B1, Roger M, Richard and Debbi H.
Photos on flickr
3 eBird lists by Anne Murray:
White Rock Esplanade
Delta Naturalists Society 
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