PHOTO: Yellow-breasted Chat by Terry Carr….
13 indomitable Casual Birders gathered at Rannie Road in the Pitt Valley at 8:50am for our walk to Sturgeon Slough.
It was cloudy, but the rain held off. Rannie Road intersects with Ladner Road just south of here, so our local-area Ladner family must have had relatives that built the dykes and settled here. Terry was quick off the mark and spotted a Lazuli Bunting as we were still all just gathering. It didn’t show again, much to everyone’s disappointment. However, some other brightly coloured birds, Yellow Warbler and Bullock’s Orioles, soon popped up, and we got good views. Later, we saw more of both species. A Willow Flycatcher was singing its “fitzbew” song.
We crossed the road and started walking the dyke trail to Sturgeon Slough, noting how trees and hedgerows had been removed on the field side, with a subsequent loss of bird nesting and foraging habitats. There were not a lot of birds along this first stretch, but we spotted the first of a number of Common Yellowthroats, European Starlings, and Violet-green Swallows.
It was not until we got to the corner and turned northward that the bird variety picked up. The dyke here has ditches on both sides and there is much more vegetation on the west bank of the slough. Birds were seen perched in the hedgerow, singing from the grassy bank on the east side, or flying overhead. There were Tree Swallows, American Goldfinches, tiny, brilliant Rufous Hummingbirds, lots of Cedar Waxwings and a single Vaux’s Swift. A couple of Eastern Kingbirds posed nicely. Willow Flycatchers and Common Yellowthroats were seen and heard all along the slough. Several raptors flew overhead: a Kestrel, a Red-tailed Hawk and a Turkey Vulture. Two crows making a rumpus alerted us to a Bald Eagle sitting quietly in a tree. Probably the most striking birds were the Bullock’s Orioles – I counted 3 of these brightly-coloured summer visitors on our walk.
The lovely rising song of Swainson’s Thrushes became more common as we walked north towards the woodland and golf course. Several of us remembered this part as “where we saw a bear once”. Approaching this stretch of the slough, we listened attentively for the song of the Yellow-breasted Chat, the Slough’s signature rarity. Sure enough, in the same stretch as I remember seeing it pre-pandemic, there was the bird singing its heart out. I thought the sound was coming from the thickest part of the vegetation until the rest of the group pointed out the large yellow bird sat openly in a bare-branched tree above the bank! So much for the shy, retiring nature of the Chat! It kept up singing as we pottered around, taking photos, wandering on further along the trail, and reminiscing about former times having fun birding.
We made our way back to the cars and drove on to Pitt Lake to see the Osprey nest. By this time, it was nearing midday and there were fewer birds singing so we just chit-chatted our way along the dyke and admired the Ospreys. I was surprised how quiet the main pond was, just a few swallows flying over it and a couple of Mallard. A few of us checked out the start of the woodland trail and were glad to see it still looked accessible. Swainson’s Thrushes, Yellow-rumped Warbler and a Yellow Warbler were singing, but we did not explore further today. At least 37 species were seen on the trip, including our target rarity, the Yellow-breasted Chat.
Our group today included Terry, Glen, Bill, Brian, Louise, Lidia, David, Dottie, Margaret, Jacquie, Mike, Roger and Anne. A big thank you to Glen for doing the driving for me today!
Report by Anne Murray
Photos are on flickr
eBird Checklists
Sturgeon Slough
Pitt Lake-Grant Narrows
Next Tuesday & Wednesday (June 18 & 19) the outings are to Jackman Wetlands in Langley.
Meet at 8 am in the disc golf parking lot on the west side of 272nd St between 16th Ave & 8th Ave. Raptors Knoll Disc Golf Park, 1111 272 St, Langley (across from Langley Transfer Station).
To sign up for an outing, click on the DNS bird outing schedule sheet.
Delta Naturalists Society 