Delta Naturalists Society

With yesterday’s wet weather behind us and sunshine beckoning, it was no surprise to see a big turnout for this morning’s walk. Participants were David, Thea and Rosemary, Brian and Louise, Glen, Gabriele, Jonathan and Lorraine, Liz, Margaretha, Lynne and Warren, Pat, Debbie, Bryan and me (Anne).

As usual for this regular destination, we started at the main carpark (numerous American Crows) and walked towards the small pond (Mallard, a few wigeon and a lone Northern Shoveler). Brewer’s Blackbirds were spotted near the beach, and we later caught up with the flock in the dunes area. They are dapper birds with their shiny black plumage and contrasting pale eyes. Red-winged Blackbirds were also present, but not in the numbers we sometimes observe.

We scanned the bay eastward for interesting species. There were huge flocks of dabbling ducks, mostly Mallard, Green-winged Teal and American Wigeon, with some Northern Pintail. The flocks stretched all along the bay and were occasionally moved around by a single Bald Eagle that was working the area (the other Eagles are probably away upriver at salmon spawning areas). Two very dense, large clusters of Scaup, northward in the bay, were likely Lesser Scaup, from past views with a scope. These ducks prefer fresher water than the Greater Scaup, flocks of which are often found further out in the marine part of the bay. Without my scope today, it was not possible to be absolutely sure. A single Common Loon looked out of place, near the shore.

We took a route along the beach in the hopes of spotting a reported Longspur. A small bird creeping around the logs turned out to be a late Savannah Sparrow, but while we were looking at that, sharp eyes in the group spotted a Western Meadowlark on a distant bush. Then, surprisingly, a Northern Shrike popped up on the adjacent branches. These exciting observations escalated as more Western Meadowlarks came closer – we saw four altogether in the sand dunes area. House Finches, European Starlings, Golden-crowned and White-crowned Sparrows, and American Crows were all along the beachside trails.

The lagoon, which has expanded into a really lovely, shallow water, tidal habitat, was full of Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Greater Yellowlegs, and Long-billed Dowitchers. Despite the large numbers of Killdeer present over the last few weeks, none were seen today. Both Canada Geese and a couple of Cackling Geese were present, the size difference quite distinctive. Flocks of Snow Geese streamed past overhead; there are huge numbers in South Delta right now. Glaucous-winged, Short-billed and Ring-billed Gulls were abundant at the lagoon area, especially north of the pump house.

The inland loop back to the cars was relatively quiet for birds and chattery for humans. A flock of Bushtits entertained us for a short time, but the call for coffee was strong and our group got strung out in a long line. Fox Sparrows and Golden-crowned Sparrows, here for the winter, were the most audible species, and Great Blue Herons sat around on the dead trees (killed in a seawater flood some years ago) looking prehistoric. The fine weather lasted the whole morning, and a total of 38 species was notched up fairly effortlessly.
Anne Murray

Photos will be on flickr

Anne’s ebird checklist