Delta Naturalists Society

Not the partially sunny day the forecast had promised, but there was no rain so who can complain? There were just 5 of us on this outing (Brian and Louise, Lidia, Marion and Glen) and we met at the appointed place, pretty much at the appointed time, notwithstanding the traffic diversions in the park and in the West End in general.

We started on the normal route – down to the seawall where there were lots of Barrow’s Goldeneye plus some Cormorants, Scoters and one Merganser. A runner on the seawall was waiting for a Harbour Seal to pop up – she showed us where it was sleeping on the bottom just 25 feet out – and sure enough, the sleepy thing popped up for a few breaths before drifting back down to the bottom. We walked along the damaged seawall to 3^rd beach seeing only Goldeneye, Cormorants and Wigeon plus some Song Sparrows and Towhees in the bushes.

The seawall was badly damaged and closed off beyond 3^rd Beach, so we went uphill towards the Ferguson Point Teahouse and took the trail through the woods, following Brian’s cell phone directions, heading for the bridge over the causeway to get us to Beaver Lake. Along the way we heard a Pacific Wren and a Pileated Woodpecker, and saw a number of interesting fungi on the rotting stumps and logs. When we got to the Lake, we turned left and were met by a cloud of Chestnut-backed Chickadees, a few Towhees, a Song Sparrow and a Squirrel – all of whom were very interested in Lidia, Marion and Louise, who had bird seeds to share! The Lake held lots of Mallards and – as soon as we stopped – we were attacked by dozens of Wood Ducks steaming towards us across the lake. Once again, it was just the seeds that held their interest. We continued around the Lake and took the trail south to the Rose Garden.

No birds seen along this trail (just more fungi), or in the Rose Garden, but we had a good chat about the Hellebores popping up in the gardens. We continued on under the causeway to Lost Lagoon and turned left to go around the Lagoon. There we saw an Anna’s Hummingbird, a couple of Great Blue Herons (so Glen was happy), some Juncos, Robins and finally a Pied-billed Grebe. It was fairly quiet along that shoreline, and at the bridge the last of the seeds were used to attract a Song Sparrow, a few Towhees and one bold Mallard.

We finished up at the tables in front of the (closed) Concession stand where Glen forced everyone to help fill in the eBird list: 3.5 hours, 7 km and 28 taxa. A pretty good day. It had been a long time since most of us had been to Stanley Park, and it was good to be back. Only a few people got messed up by the traffic cones on the way out of the Park.
Glen Bodie

Photos on flickr

eBird list
Stanley Park, Feb. 09, 2022, 12:33 p.m.
Traveling, 7.00 km, 210 minutes

40 Canada Goose
40 Wood Duck
20 American Wigeon
50 Mallard
2   Lesser Scaup
15 Surf Scoter
7   Bufflehead
X   Common Goldeneye
40 Barrow’s Goldeneye
1   Red-breasted Merganser
1   Pied-billed Grebe
2   Horned Grebe
3   Anna’s Hummingbird
6   gull sp.
1   Pelagic Cormorant
8   Double-crested Cormorant
3   Great Blue Heron
3   Bald Eagle
1   Pileated Woodpecker
40 American Crow
5   Common Raven
6   Black-capped Chickadee
40 Chestnut-backed Chickadee
2   Pacific Wren
6   American Robin
12 Dark-eyed Junco
12 Song Sparrow
15 Spotted Towhee

Number of Taxa: 28