Delta Naturalists Society

Five DNCBers met at Centennial Beach ahead of the forecasted rain – Roger, Mike, Dirk, John and Terry.  Dottie and Bob were there too, but we did not see them until later.  Margaretha joined us briefly at the end.

We started at the pond, which usually has a variety of ducks – but only Mallards were present this morning.  There were White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows beside the path.

Our next stop was the beach, and there were thousands of ducks in the bay.  We could identify Mallards, American Wigeon and Northern Pintail.  There were also groups of Canada Geese which seemed to include some smaller Cackling Geese.

Three beady-eyed Brewer’s Blackbirds posed on a stump.  There were also mixed flocks of Brewer’s and Red-winged Blackbirds flying and landing in distant trees.  A Northern Harrier was patrolling the area.  Crows and gulls passed back and forth.  One Great Blue Heron posed high in a tree, and others flew over.  Large noisy flocks of Snow Geese and Canada Geese flew over.

The rain began just as we got to the lagoon, where there was a nice assortment of birds – Green-winged Teal, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitchers and Dunlin.

Farther along on sandbars were gulls, more ducks, and 2 Bald Eagles.  In the pumphouse pond were 2 Gadwall.

Mike had gone back for Roger’s van and met us all at 12th Avenue.  So we ended the outing there at 9:20 without getting too wet.
Terry Carr

Photos on flickr