This outing’s first stop was at the taxi pullout of the Tsawwassen Ferry Jetty. Five members including Jonathan, Lorraine, Mike, Lorna and guest outing leader Grant. Weather was a pleasant 10 C with light winds which was a welcome break from the four- layer wind howlers of recent past.
We were instantly greeted by an out of towner – a Yellow-bellied Marmot! It posed nicely on the rocks and happily munched grass near the parking area. On the water close to the compensation lagoon were four Caspian Terns, a few Brant geese, noisy Black Oystercatchers and an assortment of Common Goldeneyes, Buffleheads and a lone Merganser. Upon scoping further out, large groups of Brants, Buffleheads and Greater Scaup were seen. Smaller groups of Surf and White-winged Scoters filled some of the gaps between these large groups. A few Common Loons and a Horned Grebe in near breeding plumage also made an appearance.
This group then decided to check out the Great Blue Heron rookery at the base of the jetty. A precise count of 201 Herons was recorded, audited and verified by Lorna!
On we went to meet the others for our 9 am checkin to Reifel Bird Sanctuary. A further 10 Delta Nats joined us, including Angela, Dottie, Jim, John, Lee, Bob, Roger, Rose, Uke and Nicki. Weather was perfect, no wind and mixed sun and cloud. Outing leader Grant decided to mix it up a bit and the normal route was done in reverse in hopes of spotting a Bittern in the West Marsh. Although the Bittern didn’t show, we did see the usual ducks but no longer in large numbers. We decided that the nice group of Shovelers should now be known as a Shed of Shovelers. You had to be there to see the logic! Nice to see some Brown-headed Cowbirds, both males and females. As we turned off the outer dyke, a Swallows-In-Flight-ID practice session was held. Over one of the outer ponds a large group of swallows was busy hunting breakfast. We were able to identify many Trees (Swallows that is!), Violet-Green, Barn and a few Cliff (look for the light buffy rumps!).
It was around here at our final participant Lindly found us. Since we had not taken the normal route, she deduced this guest leader was a maverick and must have gone the other way. Now we were 16 Nats in total on the hunt for warblers. Up the centre dyke trail we explored but unfortunately we were only seeing a few Chickadees, Song Sparrows, Towhees and small flock of Kinglets. Finally near the tower we found the elusive Yellow-rumped Warbler, a very fine male of the Audubon subspecies! At the viewing tower, a few of us climbed to the top to do part two of the Swallows-In-Flight-ID practice. All the species we found before were noted again. A scan of the Purple Martin swallow boxes and the skies unfortunately didn’t locate any of those larger swallows, which are due back any day now.
Continuing along the north dyke it was still quite quiet. We paused to look out over the amazing marsh towards the North Shore mountains and to listen to the many Marsh Wrens singing. Near the Northeast corner Grant spotted a female Rufous Hummingbird that appeared to go to a nest in a crook of a tree branch. Indeed, after much discussion on how to find this nest way up in the tree, the group of Nats zeroed in and got some nice binocular views and a few photos of the mom sitting on the nest! At this point Grant finally clued in that the group had been getting smaller as several Nats called it a day early. A bit anxious from his Scouting leader days where losing a child was a big deal, he quickly realized these were all mature adults and would eventually all find their way home.
The remaining 8 Nats did a pass by the display ponds but couldn’t find any nesting Sandhill Cranes (but we did see young Evan by Gift Shop earlier and heard the others calling). Nor could we spot any Cinamon Teals that had been reported a few days earlier. But in the end, we tallied 40 species and lost only half the group! Not bad for the maverick outing leader’s first outing.
Grant Edwards
Delta Naturalists Society 
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