Delta Naturalists Society

Seven Delta Nats met at Centennial Beach in Boundary Bay Regional Park – Bob, Joe, Dottie, Mike, Lorna, John and Terry. Ekjot joined us for part of the walk as well.

While we were waiting in the parking lot, Joe spotted a Cooper’s Hawk fly into a cottonwood. It was well camouflaged, but luckily Joe saw where it landed so we all got good looks through the scope. Our first stop was the duck pond. The only ducks there were five Mallards dozing in the reeds. A large flock of Blackbirds landed high up above the pond. They seemed to be mainly Red-wings but some Brewer’s may have been mixed in.

At the shore the only birds near the beach were a Canada Goose and a Glaucous-winged Gull. A large flock of Canada Geese flew over. Through the scope we saw some American Wigeon in the distance. The walk along the dyke was very quiet bird-wise. A passerby took our group photo at the viewing tower before we walked to the shore again. A Horned Grebe was fairly close to shore. Farther out was a Common Loon and more Horned Grebes.

Back on the dyke path we saw several Great Blue Herons perched on stumps and in the reeds. In the lagoon were lots of Killdeer, and farther along, flocks of shorebirds were doing synchronized flying before landing. These were mostly Western Sandpipers, but photos showed at least one Least Sandpiper (with its yellow legs). We thought Sanderling might be mixed in – but photos did not seem to show any. Green-winged Teal were feeding here too. Below the pump house were more Killdeer and Green-winged Teal – and we added Northern Pintail and Greater Yellowlegs to our list.

Again it was very quiet along the inland trails back to the parking lot. We did see Spotted Towhees, Song Sparrows, Golden-crowned Sparrows, Northern Flickers, Savannah Sparrows, a Lincoln’s Sparrow and a Red-tailed Hawk. Surprisingly, we did not see eagles or harriers. Another stop at the duck pond found only the same few Mallards.
Terry Carr

Photos on flickr.

eBird checklist