Delta Naturalists Society

Eight Casual Birders met at Blackie Spit carpark: regulars, Brian and Louise, Johnnie Mac, Colin and Stephanie, Marion, me, and newbie Christine. The weather didn’t look too promising – grey with a threat of rain – but we set off along the spit looking for pipits and other interesting fall migrants.

We blanked on the Pipits, but had a great view of a Horned Lark at the far end of the spit. We picked out a distant Common Loon, some Ring-billed Gulls and a couple of Cormorants. One or two Caspian Terns were flying by, but otherwise it was pretty quiet. There was no sign of Pipits, although this is often a favourite spot for them at this time of year, and very few ducks in the marshy area on the east side of the spit.

Walking into the main part of the park, we searched for the Pileated Woodpecker that yesterday’s group had seen, but no sign of that either. It was a slow start to the morning, but that did not deter us from our usual cheerful chatter. Within the Rene Savigne reserve area (named after a highly regarded White Rock BC Naturalist who passed away some years ago), we started spotting more small birds – American Goldfinches, Song and White-crowned Sparrows, a couple of warblers, and Cedar Waxwing. We admired the newly built Purple Martin boxes in the marsh, but the swallows all seem to have left for warmer climates.

Some shorebirds were beginning to move into the lagoon areas with the rising tide, so we slowly walked around to the pumphouse. This area was quite a bit more productive and the sun almost emerged. The wide ditch had many ducks, including Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Gadwall and one American Wigeon, many in various stages of moult. Lesser Yellowlegs were foraging in the shallow water alongside their larger cousins the Greater Yellowlegs. Of interest at this time of year were the Short-billed Dowitchers – the orange stripes on the tertial feathers of these birds were very apparent, helping to distinguish them from their similar-looking cousin, the Long-billed Dowitcher.

The hedgerow beside the slough was attractive to a variety of warblers: very bright Yellow Warblers, some Orange-crowned Warblers and Yellow-rumped Warblers, and several Common Yellowthroat. Anna’s Hummingbirds, Northern Flicker, Downy Woodpecker, and a couple of raptors: Cooper’s Hawk and Northern Harrier were spotted as we completed our loop.

By the time we were back at the car park, we had tallied 45 bird species, identified a variety of interesting plants, taken lots of photos, and enjoyed some amiable chatter on our walk.
Anne Murray

Photos on Flickr

Anne’s eBird list

Next week (Thursday 14 September only) is the annual outing to Mt Baker, Washington.
more info here