It was a dry start for the group of 9 that gathered in the Centennial Beach parking lot. Brian & Louise, Noreen & David, Ontario Brian R, Margaret G and daughter Calipso, Margaretha, and Rayme. Warren joined us a bit later.
With Bald Eagles overhead calling, we headed to the pond, where we found the usual Mallards and American Wigeon, with about 4 Northern Shovelers, and a female Bufflehead. Lots of Golden-crowned Sparrows were in the rose bushes, and Louise pointed out the Red-flowering Currant was just opening up, a sign the Rufous Hummingbirds would arrive. Later on, Roger M joined us briefly in his search for the Mountain Bluebird. No luck there, but he spotted a nice male Rufous Hummingbird, a bird that locally is a true “harbinger of Spring”.
At the beach there were distant Brant Geese, and we headed west along the sand looking for shorebirds. Eventually 20-30 Sanderling obligingly flew past, and as there was a string of what appeared to be Scaup further along, we stayed on the beach until the Tower. Small groups of Sanderling, without any obvious Dunlin mixed in, flew past, and some fed along the sand.
A Common Loon was seen struggling with its catch, but perhaps a bit far off to be certain of what it was. The photo suggested a Starry Flounder, one of their common catches here. A second Common Loon was seen, and a few Glaucous-winged Gulls overflew the group as we tried to close in on the Scaup. They kept moving west until a couple collecting beach debris came from the spit direction, and this caused the Scaup to move further offshore, so perhaps they will be called Greater/Lesser Scaup. Photos suggest Greater Scaup. There were about 450 in the extensive group.
A stick convinced me it was a Northern Shrike, but its stationary habitus and other keen birders with binocs eventually revealed its true self.
As we reached the tower, it began spitting, and this fairly quickly became the rain that had been forecast. A lone Bald Eagle was in the tall cottonwood, and small numbers of Green-winged Teal in the lagoon. A couple of Killdeer could be heard in the grass on the far side of the lagoon, but we did not stop to try to find them. A group of about 6 Tree Swallows were exploring the swallow boxes, and on occasion checking the inside.
Red-winged Blackbirds were in the Bulrushes, a pair of Gadwall in the ditch, and a dozen Greater Yellowlegs were on the sandbar in the lagoon. The tide had been high, and was falling, and there were few gulls in evidence.
At the pump house, the rain picked up, so we headed back towards the Raptor trail and moved fairly quickly along, finding small pockets of Golden-crowned Sparrows and American Robins. A single Purple Finch and a few Fox and Song Sparrows, as well as Spotted Towhees, were in the thickets, and one Ruby-crowned Kinglet was foraging in fresh leafy growth on a Hawthorn tree. At two separate places we were stopped by the Kidik-Kidik (gidik-gidik?) call of Virginia Rails who seemed to be stimulated by the weather, or perhaps the feeling of Spring.
Additional groups of Golden-crowned Sparrows with an occasional Fox or Song Sparrow were seen as the pace towards cover and the cars picked up. Although the return trip was a bit rushed, and the rain noise curtailed our birding by ear, it was considered a good outing with 31 species seen or heard. A sunny day would have helped with the photography!
David Hoar
Photos are on flickr
Delta Naturalists Society 
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