Delta Naturalists Society

It was -3 degrees C with snow forecast, but a handful of the group assembled at 8am at the ferry jetty. The sky was overcast, the tide very high, and very few birds were on the water. The most interesting observation was the large group of Black Oystercatchers that had roosted on the gravel spit. They were waking up and discussing the days activities, before dispersing to their individual parts of the shoreline. Black Oystercatchers used to be a rare sight here a few decades ago; today there were 16 together on the spit. A small group of Dunlin, a few gulls, a Common Loon and a Northern Harrier gliding over only held our interest for a while, as it was very cold.

We drove to Reifel through the back roads. A couple of us spotted a Rough-legged Hawk perched at the roadside. We pulled into the parking spot on River Road with a view of the Fraser River. A group of Trumpeter Swans were lower downstream, and 2 Mute Swans were hanging out near the floating homes. A pair of Bald Eagles were at their giant nest in a nearby fir tree. 2 Red-breasted Mergansers and a Common Goldeneye were hunting fish in the river.

Arriving at Reifel Bird Sanctuary, we were met by other Delta Nats members who had come directly there (Colin, Stephanie, Lorna, Warren, Lynne, Margaretha, Roger, Mike, Rayme, Rosemary, Thea, Anne) and Kris from Birds Canada who was there to film our activities, so we were now 13. Debbi joined us a little later.

Because the forecast was for snow, we had the Sanctuary almost to ourselves, but we were lucky and the snow never came. The Black-crowned Night-Herons were sat out on their tree obligingly, and a variety of sparrows and finches clustered near the entrance as usual. There were a good number of Great Blue Herons in the lagoon. A Cackling Goose in the House Pond took off unobligingly before everyone had a chance to see it.

We took the East Dyke trail in the hopes of seeing the owl recorded yesterday by DNCBers, but although we saw a gazillion Spotted Towhees and Black-capped Chickadees as well as a good number of Song Sparrows and Fox Sparrows, we were out of luck with the owl. It was cloudy and very cold compared to yesterday, so perhaps it was tucked away in the vegetation keeping warm. Raptors were in evidence: we saw Northern Harrier, Cooper’s Hawk, 6 Bald Eagles, and a Merlin.

A variety of ducks were seen in the interior ponds, including Wood Ducks, Ring-necked Ducks, Hooded and Common Mergansers, Bufflehead, Lesser Scaup, Gadwall, and the usual Shovelers, Wigeon, Pintail and Mallard. The surprise came at the end of our walk, when keen eyes spotted Birder Brian with his scope beside the south pond. Going over to check what he was looking at, we were delighted to get good views of an unusual Cinnamon x Blue-winged Teal hybrid. This duck was not only present at the wrong time of year for either of these species (both normally summer visitors) but also seemed to have a touch of a third species in its make up. Something funny going on in the duck world these days!

After we had walked around Reifel’s interior trails for a couple of hours, there was a dash for the warming hut and its cozy fire. It had been another fun DNCB morning at a favorite Delta destination, and Kris recorded some highlights on camera for posterity.
Anne Murray

Anne’s eBird report and checklists (48 species)