Delta Naturalists Society

Nine Delta Nats met at the Nature House in Burnaby Lake Regional Park – Pat, Lidia, Bob, Dottie, Jacquie, Lori, Alan, Lorna and Terry. Although the forecast was for showers we were very lucky with the weather – only one very brief shower near the end of our outing.

On the path to Piper Spit, there were Steller’s Jays, Song Sparrows, Golden and White-crowned Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, Towhees, Juncos, Pigeons, a Flicker and Crows. At the spit there was the usual great variety of ducks – Mallards, Wood Ducks, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler – as well as Canada Geese and Coots. There was a huge flock of Long-billed Dowitchers with some Dunlin mixed in – mainly sleeping with their bills tucked in. In the distant water lilies we picked out nine Wilson’s Snipe. Luckily Lori had her scope which gave us better views. But even with the scope it was hard to find them in the lily pads. They were well camouflaged. Two Killdeer also appeared. A flock of Red-winged Blackbirds was flying around the spit but we did not see the previously reported Rusty Blackbird. A Great Blue Heron was sitting at the top of a tree and a Double-crested Cormorant flew by.

We decided to change our usual route and walked east toward Phillips Point instead of west to the dam. There was not much bird activity here but we added Robins and Ruby-crowned Kinglets. Alan saw a Merlin but it flew off before we could get photos. The real highlight of this route was a great variety of mushrooms. Back at the Nature House, Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadees were flitting around. And there were lots of Eastern Gray Squirrels and native Douglas Squirrels. Some of us went back to the spit for another look at the ducks and other birds there – but still no Rusty Blackbird.
Terry Carr

Photos on flickr.

eBird checklist

Next Tuesday and Wednesday we will go to Point Roberts, USA.
Bring passport or Nexus.
Meet at 8am at Lighthouse Marine Park.
Some people may stop first by Kiniski’s at the west end of Gulf Rd.
Pre-register here.