Delta Naturalists Society

It was a foggy start to the morning with a light mist all around us. I put my hand up to be leader the night before as we were leaderless. I’ve done this occasionally before and it seemed easy. The team normally takes over. On this occasion, there were a couple of challenges – keeping track of people and keeping a list as there were a fair number of birds.

There were 13 signed up. One didn’t show, and there were two extras. The group was Chris, David, Glen, Jim, Jonathan, Lindly, Liz, Lori, Nick, Noreen, Pat, Richard, Debbi, Jacquie and Dottie. Marion emailed and apologized for not joining us, but she wasn’t signed up, but the apology was nice.

The lights were still on White Rock Pier. The water was calm with no wind. Surf and White-winged Scoters were in abundance. As we progressed down the pier, some of the expected White Rock Pier species were to be found: Red-breasted Merganser, Common Loon, Pelagic Cormorants, Bufflehead, Horned and Eared Grebes. At the end of the pier, Long-tailed Ducks, Black Turnstone, Common Merganser and Pacific Loons were added to the list. A lone female Lesser Scaup was giving us up-close views just down from the pier (ID’d by Debbi). On the way back there were Mallards, Crows, Rock Pigeons and Canada Geese. A total of 19 species were viewed at the Pier.

Arriving at Blackie Spit, we were joined by Margaretha. The fog had lifted and it was a cool, windless day with a flat sea. Our group was now 16 strong. Keeping the list going started to be a challenge. We were surprised by the number of Eurasian Wigeon. Initial counts were 15, but this rose as we progressed along the spit.

There were a number of ducks on the shore of the spit: American and Eurasian Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Common Goldeneye, Common Loons, Horned Grebes, and Red-necked Grebes. Debbie spotted a large group of Dunlin on the far shore, and some Rock Pigeons on a bridge on the far shore. The writer couldn’t see the bridge let alone the pigeons, so took her word for it. On the way back down the spit, the resident Marbled Godwits were spotted.

As we walked to the other parts of the park, House Finches, Northern Flickers, Red-winged Blackbirds and American Goldfinches were spotted. Greater Yellowlegs and many more ducks were in the sheltered lagoon. Overhead there were a number of Eagles, and a Merlin was spotted by a few folk. A Western Meadowlark was also spotted. A lone Anna’s Hummingbird was really cooperative for the photographers. It turned around on the branch and then showed its iridescent chest. The light was poor, but a few photographers probably made some good shots.

On the way to the pumphouse a large flock of bushtits was evident together with the usual suspects in the shrubs and undergrowth. A lone Golden-crowned Kinglet was seen. A pair of Hooded Mergansers were in the stream with yet more ducks.

It was now noon, so we trudged back to the parking lot. A few of us picked up Cornish Pasties at a local bakery as recommended by Debbi. Blackie Spit was an excellent location today with a total of 42 species.

In total we managed 51 species for the day.
Chris McVittie

Photos on Flickr

Chris’s eBird checklists
White Rock Pier
Blackie Spit

Mushroom Report, by Glen Bodie

For those of you on Wednesday who noticed me collecting pictures and samples of mushrooms, I have further information. I brought these 2 samples home to do spore prints to help ID them.

#1 – on the old crab apple tree just near the start of the walk through the trees where we saw Goldfinches after we were out on the spit:

These may have looked a little like Oyster mushrooms growing on the side of a branch. The actual species is Crepidotus calolepis or the Jelly Crep. For many years it has been erroneously called Crepidotus mollis, which looks very similar but has different DNA. And for the curious – they are not edible. Spore print was Dark Brown.

#2 – along the edge of the trail near the pumphouse at Dunsmuir Gardens:

These are just another little brown mushroom that grows in small groupings all over the place, I’ve seen it many times this Winter already. We also saw it beside the trail near the lighthouse down in Point Bob last week and in Stanley Park the week before. The species is called Tubaria furfuracea or the Totally Tedious Tubaria! Totally Tedious because they are all over place and they’re just little brown mushrooms (LBM) and they’re no good for anything! Spore print was Pale Ochre.

Reference: Glen’s Mushroom Hunting Database