Delta Naturalists Society

Eleven DNCBers met at Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver – Kirsten, Jacquie, Lee, Dottie, Bob, Lidia, Mike, Lorna, Lori, Bryan D and Terry.  The previous evening forecast was for morning showers, so we were pleasantly surprised to have a dry but chilly morning.  Most of us took advantage of the free parking below the tennis courts.  Parking in the park now costs $13.25 for the day.

Spring flowers and new foliage were everywhere.  But the new leaves made it harder to see the small birds.  It was too cold for many insects to appear.  The first birds heard and seen were Anna’s Hummingbirds, Song Sparrows, and a Northern Flicker.  Heading down the hill past the “warbler trees”, we tried to identify small birds high in the branches.  These included Pine Siskins, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Golden- and White-crowned Sparrows, and Robins.

Across the road was a very noisy and active murder of crows.  We thought that they might be mobbing an owl or raptor.  But it turned out to be a Raven that was upsetting them, and it finally moved on.  There was another Northern Flicker excavating a hole in a dead tree.  Orange-crowned Warblers were giving their distinctive call, and finally rewarded us with some distant views.  Then one posed briefly just above our heads.  A Rufous Hummingbird was perched on a treetop.

The walk down to the pond added a few more common species, but the pond itself only had Mallards – including a completely white leucistic male with its distinctive curly tail.  In the quarry gardens were displays of tulips and other flowers.  The dogwoods were in full bloom.  Hidden among the leaves. we heard and spotted chickadees, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Hutton’s Vireos.  Kirsten led us back to a spot where other birders had been observing a Barred Owl.  Hidden in cedar branches, it was very difficult to see – and even harder to photograph.

We took a group photo at the Love Locks Statue, observed some Pink Fawn Lilies, and continued walking toward the Conservatory, where we had views of the gardens, Vancouver and the North Shore mountains.  Then we headed back down to our cars after another very pleasant outing.
Terry Carr

photos on Flickr