PHOTO: Common Loon by Terry Carr….
9 Delta Nats crossed the border to meet at Lighthouse Marine Park in Point Roberts.
Newbies, Srikar and Chandani, had taken public transit to Tsawwassen from Vancouver’s West End. Everyone was suitably impressed by how early they had started out that morning. Some of us had stopped first at Kiniski’s where Double-crested and Pelagic Cormorants and gulls were resting on the pilings and Surf Scoters were in the water.
The water at Lighthouse Marine Park was very rough, and there were fewer birds than we usually see there. There were Great Blue Herons on the shore and Barn Swallows circled above. Many Cormorants and Surf Scoters flew past, but it was just Cormorants and gulls in the water. In the bushes were a Flicker and White-crowned Sparrows. Farther along we saw a pair of Common Loons, several female Harlequins, seals and sea lions in the water. Debbi joined us just before we turned to the inland path where we saw House Finches, Anna’s Hummingbirds, Ravens, Chickadees, White-crowned Sparrows, Flickers, Towhees, Bushtits, Starlings, Bewick’s Wren and a Yellow-rumped Warbler. Two large flocks flew over and Debbi thought they were Pipits and Cedar Waxwings.
Our next stop was the west side of the marina. The only birds in the water were Cormorants. What I thought was a Kingfisher on a sailboat mast turned out to be a crow. We drove to the other side of the marina and walked to the shore. Here we did hear and see a pair of Belted Kingfishers flying from sign to sign. There were some female Harlequin in the distance and more Cormorants.
Most of us carried on to Seabright Farm, hoping to see the resident Kestrel. A Red-tailed Hawk flew high above, but we did not see a Kestrel or the usual Eagles. We did try to turn some distant Flickers into Kestrels. There was a large group of Cormorants on a rock in the water far below. A group of Black-capped Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches entertained us.
Report by Terry Carr
Photos are on flickr
eBird checklist (26 species)
Next Tuesday & Wednesday (Sept 10 & 11) the outings are to Tsawwassen Ferry Causeway & Reifel.
Meet on the ferry causeway at 8 am. The parking pullout is part way along the north side of the causeway.
Meet at Reifel at 9 am. DNS has been booked as a group. You do not need to book parking – just tell the gatekeeper that you are part of the DNS group booking.
Non-Reifel members will need to pay admission.
To sign up for an outing, click on the DNS bird outing schedule sheet.
Delta Naturalists Society 