Delta Naturalists Society

Only 7 DNCBers braved the heat and the traffic to visit Maplewood Flats: David, Noreen, Lidia, Margaret, Kirsten, Richard and Glen. That somewhat minimized the chat fest and gave the birds the opportunity to come out and be seen. But it seems most of them were also avoiding the heat. Our walk started with some birds in the trees but, by the time we made it back to the starting point, it was deathly quiet.

To reduce bear attractants, the site has removed the bird feeders from the fenced garden area at the start. The IBA List of Species for July was at 41, but not many uncommon species on the list. As we walked the first wooded trail we could hear Warbling Vireos, Willow Flycatchers and Cedar Waxwings, and of course Towhees and Chickadees. When we reached the beach we realized the tide was WAY out with low tide expected at noon, so there was not a lot to see close in. The nest boxes out in the bay were well populated with Purple Martins. There were distant gulls, and cormorants of some kind.

Still very quiet as we reached the bridge. Canada Geese on the mud flats, a few very hot looking Mallards sitting motionless, almost camouflaged, on the rocky shore, a Flicker flew in, and a Robin was looking around on the rocks. No Kingfisher on the overhangs, and nothing else in the still water. At one of the lookout benches further along, we stopped for a moment and Richard said what everyone was thinking – wish I had a beer! Margaret admitted her flask only contained water.

We finally got close enough to some water that we could see the Cormorants more clearly – Double- crested. The first lookout over the inner pond showed us hawking Martins, a few Mallards and some Red-winged Blackbirds, but it was hard to see anything through all the overgrown vegetation. The rest of the way around was very quiet, just the smell of the cottonwoods, as the day was heating up. Near the other end of the inner pond Richard shot a duck – with his camera – seeming to be maybe a juvenile Gadwall or something? And then we were back at the bridge, then back at the parking lot, all reflecting a bit on how short the list would be – see the details from David’s eBird list below.
Glen Bodie

Photos are on flickr

Traveling – 3.02 kilometers – 158 minutes
25 species (+2 other taxa)
Canada Goose 54
Gadwall 1 Young
Mallard 2
Anna’s Hummingbird 1
Glaucous-winged Gull 2
gull sp. 28
Pelagic Cormorant 1
Double-crested Cormorant 4
cormorant sp. 21
Great Blue Heron 10
Turkey Vulture 1
Northern Flicker 2
Willow Flycatcher 4 2 heard only
Pacific-slope Flycatcher 2
Warbling Vireo 3 Heard
American Crow 6
Black-capped Chickadee 15
Purple Martin 16
Swainson’s Thrush 1 Heard
American Robin 1
Cedar Waxwing 5
House Finch 3
White-crowned Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 6
Spotted Towhee 9
Red-winged Blackbird 1
Yellow Warbler 2 Heard only in tree top