Delta Naturalists Society

10 of us gathered this morning at Boundary Bay Regional Park: park regulars David and Noreen, Colin, Chris, Lee, Lidia, Stephanie, Warren, Pat, and me (Anne). The weather was a little cool and grey, but with sunny spells between the clouds.

We decided to go around the park “widdishins” – along the back trails northward first and then along the shoreline – as the smaller hedgerow birds are very active in the morning. This proved a good decision, as Noreen & David almost immediately spotted two very unexpected birds: Townsend’s Solitaires on the top of a small tree! The light was tricky, but long-lens cameras and the scope came to the rescue confirming their identity. Everyone got a good view, and some got photos.

After that, we were prepared for anything, and were soon spotting a variety of warblers that included Yellow-rumpeds and Orange-crowned. The bushes were busy with White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, House Finches and Spotted Towhees, with a few Black-capped Chickadees. Everything was in mixed flocks, and it was difficult to keep track of them as they flitted in and out of bushes. We had the usual couple of Northern Harriers cruising the interior grassland, and a Merlin gave good views while perched. Anna’s Hummingbirds were seen occasionally throughout the park.

We took the longer trail west since the NW corner of the park is good habitat – cottonwood trees beside a stream and some nice weedy areas that the finches and sparrows were enjoying as they found plenty of seed heads. This corner is also where I had recently seen a Great Horned Owl, and we got lucky. It posed nicely for awhile close to the path before moving further into the trees.

Moving onto the pumphouse area, we saw a good variety of water and shorebirds including ducks, including one Common Merganser, a few gulls, Caspian Terns, Greater Yellowlegs, Western Sandpipers, and some Killdeer. I had expected larger numbers of shorebirds as the tide was good, but the lagoon was pretty quiet. Someone cleverly pointed out that the wind blowing in from the northwest was probably encouraging the birds to move on south rather than stopping at this location today. Our group also progressed south with a lot of chatting going on, but we managed to spot 4 American Pipits, a seasonal bird we had been anticipating.

The little pond at the beach was a bit of a muddy mess and, unusually, had no birds, and we searched the cottonwoods in vain for the usual Brewer’s Blackbirds. We were back at the cars and my e-Bird count was at 39, but then David reminded us of the Belted Kingfisher that flew by as we were parking – so our count for the morning seemed to be a respectable 40 species! Then when David looked at his photographs, it turned out that a thought-to-be Yellow Warbler was actually an Orange-crowned Warbler – so our tally was back to 39 species! An excellent morning, with lots of sharp-eyed birders and careful identifications.
Thanks to all who came out!
Anne Murray

Photos on Flickr

Anne’s eBird checklist