PHOTO: American Bittern by Terry Carr….
7 Delta Nats met at the 8th Avenue entrance to Aldergrove Regional Park – Dottie, Bob, Jacquie, Richard, Alan, Mike and Terry.
This huge 280 hectare Metro Vancouver Park used to be the site of man-made Aldergrove Lake which was a popular local swimming hole. Metro Vancouver had grandfathered the lake from the previous owner who operated it as a part of a private, commercial campground beginning in the 1960’s. But in 2011 it was decided to fill in the lake. There were serious environmental risks due to it being next to a sensitive habitat. Chlorine had been used to keep the water clean and it could have damaged the surrounding ecosystem. The former lake is now the site of the Nature Discovery Area.
We walked around the Nature Discovery Loop and other trails in that area. We heard, but did not see, a Steller’s Jay. We did see Flickers, Robins, Towhees, rabbits and squirrels. A noisy Common Yellowthroat appeared briefly. A flock of ducks flew over. We decided that a hawk in a distant tree was a Merlin that we had seen following the ducks. As we approached the small pond in this area, a large bird flew out of the reeds and quickly disappeared. We thought that it was a Green Heron. But a few hastily taken photos showed that it was an American Bittern, which eBird says is rare for this area. So it was a really neat sighting.
In the pond were a few Mallards. Continuing our walk we heard and saw Song Sparrow, Hermit Thrush, Willow Flycatcher, Western Flycatcher and Western Wood-Pewee. There were Robin and Cedar Waxwing families moving about, and an Anna’s Hummingbird made a brief appearance.
After returning to our cars, we drove to the Aldergrove Bowl entrance to the park on Lefeuvre Road, where we walked around the large pond. It had warmed up considerably so dragonflies and other insects were very active. The most common dragonflies were Western Pondhawks – females are all green with green faces; males are all blue with green faces. There were lots of American Sand Wasps with their large green eyes. We added Great Blue Herons, Black-capped Chickadees and Bushtits to the list. There were two native Painted Turtles basking on logs in the pond. A sign indicated that this turtle population is being monitored. Sharp-eyed Alan saw a Belted Kingfisher land across the pond. Then it flew over our heads for photos. Back at the parking lot a Turkey Vulture and a flock of Crows flew over.
This was a very pleasant morning in a new area for many of us. The drive home was pleasant, too, because we took Zero Avenue which had very little traffic, no trucks and no traffic lights. It always amazes me that there is no fence along this international border.
Report by Terry Carr
Photos are on flickr
eBird checklist (24 species)
Next Tuesday & Wednesday (Aug 20 & 21) the outings are to Terra Nova Regional Park in Richmond.
Meet at 8 am by the Adventure Playground at the west end of River Rd (west of the north end of No 1 Rd).
To sign up for an outing, click on the DNS bird outing schedule sheet.
Delta Naturalists Society 