Delta Naturalists Society

Thursday December 8, a tiny contingent of six Delta Naturalists (Dirk, Syd, Margaretha, Liz W, Roger, and myself) went to 72nd dyke to look for the Mountain Bluebird as reported on Metro Vancouver’s Rare Bird Alert Monday Dec. 5.  We were fortunate to see a bright vibrant blue male feeding close to the dyke 200 metres east of the parking area on the way back from walking to just beyond the 80th St airport land pumphouse.

Our one hour walk one way east, ended at the potato field a couple blocks past the pumphouse where many Northern Pintail and Mallards foraged on the farmers’ leftover bounty, with several Eagles eyeing them up nearby!.

The tide was in, so many Dunlin were flying about and rafts of ducks, mainly Scaup, floating offshore.  Other ducks we saw included American Wigeon  which usually feed on the King Links golf course greenery; and a pair of Hooded Mergansers (in the pumphouse channel ).  Other marsh tideline usuals were present, including a couple of Great Blue Heron, several Northern Harriers, and a variety of sparrows including one Savannah! 

Another highlight of our walk was an adult Northern Shrike spotted by Dirk about a third of the way along our route when we started out.

Many photographers were snapping away at the male Mountain Bluebird which we stopped to watch on our return walk.  A male Western Meadowlark, well camouflaged with its striped back and head, was also feeding by the bluebird in the thick grass fairway edges.  The bright yellow chest with black V of the meadowlark was seen briefly in this beautiful prairie bird.  Syd reminiscenced about seeing this species in his home province of Saskatchewan, while Dirk mentioned to us the bluebird was  a lifer for him!

It was nice to have Margaretha and Liz help spot the many species we saw!  With five Trumpeter Swans floating by in the distance, and earlier a large flock of Snow Geese, we reached a total of 30 birds seen as per the ebird list that I made.  Everyone was smiling and enjoying the morning, despite a cool brisk SE wind which picked up speed as the day progressed, and a welcome hazy sun that appeared despite the looming black rain clouds in the distance!

Thank you all for attending on such short notice, and a special thanks to Roger who took our mini group photo!  Sorry Pat, we missed you!  This was a very last minute excursion to make up for the Tuesday cancellation to Terra Nova (and a drive closer to home with no snow here, compared to other Metro Vancouver areas)! 
Debbi

Debbi’s ebird checklist