Delta Naturalists Society

Fifteen birders met at Centennial Beach on a very chilly morning – Roger, Jonathan, Mike, Herb, David, Warren, Colin, Lorraine, Noreen, Lynne, Stephanie, Margaretha, Lindly, Anne and Terry. The outing had been changed from Burnaby Lake because of Tuesday’s snowfall. Tsawwassen escaped most of the snow so the paths were clear.

In the parking lot several Bald Eagles looked down on us from the surrounding trees. In the field were American Robins, European Starlings and a large flock of American Wigeon. Surprisingly, there were no Eurasian Wigeons among them.

Our first stop was the pond. There were no ducks on it, but as soon as the Mallards saw us, they left the far shore and filled the pond – looking for handouts we decided. But there were only Mallards and a pale duck that is often there. Red-winged Blackbirds were posing and singing on the reeds.

Our next stop was the beach where we could see groups of Scaup and Surf and White-winged Scoters. Sanderling were feeding along the shore. After the group photo, we followed our usual route along the dyke to the pumphouse. The songbirds must have been hunkered down somewhere because of the cold weather. We marvelled at the storm damage where sections of the path had washed out and been repaired, and where sand and large logs have been moved far inland. The badly damaged boardwalk is closed indefinitely. We did see Song Sparrows and House Sparrows.

In the lagoon were Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail and Greater Yellowlegs. A Great Blue Heron made a noisy exit. We had a nice view of a female Northern Harrier. It perched in the field and then flew along beside us. Near the pumphouse were Brant Geese, Gadwall, Gulls and Yellowlegs.

On the inner route back to the parking lot we added House Finch, Anna’s Hummingbird, Golden and White-crowned Sparrows, Spotted Towhees, Black-capped Chickadees, rabbits and pussy willows. From the trail above the Bert Brink area we added a group of Northern Flickers, and decided that a bird in a distant tree was a Red-tailed Hawk. Bald Eagles were soaring overhead.

So ended another enjoyable outing, with pleasant company.
Terry Carr

Photos are on Flickr.

Anne’s eBird checklist.