PHOTO: Swainson’s Thrush by Glen Bodie…..
On a rather muggy overcast morning, the group of 7 met at Surrey Bend: Liz and Alan, Bill and Carolyn with son Dan, Susan G and Glen. If you haven’t been to Surrey Bend in a few years you’ll be surprised at how over-grown everything is, especially at this leafy time of year – we saw lots of “leaf birds” – such that you cannot see the interior waterways that drain the area into the Fraser. The mosquitoes were somewhat annoying in the denser parts of the trail … but that’s where the birds are! Given the flying insects it was not surprising that we heard and saw many insect eaters such as Flycatchers and Swallows.
The stretch along the river offered no ducks at all and no shorebirds on the mud flats. We saw a Great Blue Heron at some distance, and a Belted Kingfisher flew by with his call making it sound like he was chastising us for being there. Most of this part of the route is narrow and tree-covered with occasional openings where we could see the sky. In such places we were also able to see the birds flitting around, such as Willow Flycatcher, Western Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, Cedar Waxwing, Swainson’s Thrush, Bewick’s Wren and Pine Siskin.
There were a few other familiar species that we saw or heard only once but were glad to add to the list, such as Northern Flicker, Downy Woodpecker, Brown Creeper, Common Yellowthroat. Across the river we heard the recognizable call of the Red-eyed Vireo, and Merlin agreed with the ID. There were also the common species: Black-capped Chickadee, Song Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, Bald Eagle, American Crow. But surprisingly there were no Gulls seen, no Blackbirds, no Hawks. When we moved out in to the open grassy area on the return leg the primary additions were the Swallows – mostly Barn and Tree, with a probably Violet-green as well.
As we were about to reach the Parking Area again, we finally saw a bit of the inner waterway and on it were our first and only ducks, 4 Mallards, and one Great Blue Heron. That left us in the end with 26 species over a nice 2:40 hour walk with good company and not a drop of rain.
Report by Glen Bodie
Photos are on flickr
Next Tuesday & Wednesday (August 6 & 7) the outings are to Campbell Valley Regional Park in Langley (16th Ave entrance).
Meet at 8 am in the parking lot on the south side of 16th Ave. 20290 16th Ave.
To sign up for an outing, click on the DNS bird outing schedule sheet.
Delta Naturalists Society 