Delta Naturalists Society

It was dark. It was cold. It was wet. It was lonely. What a great opportunity to get out and see the birds! The party of one crossed the border just before 9am and headed for the lookout at Kiniski’s.

Initially the water was very smooth, but the wind soon picked up. On the water were 3 Horned Grebes, one Common Loon and at least a dozen Red-breasted Mergansers. On the pilings were a few gulls and over 30 Cormorants with a mix of Double-crested and Pelagic. Moving on to the Lighthouse Point there were more Mergansers, Grebes and Cormorants in the water and flying past. A large flock of Starlings was moving from the power lines to the grasses and back and forth.

Out at the lighthouse there was a flock of Black Turnstones running along the shoreline, sometimes shrieking into flight then settling again. A little further off-shore were more Mergansers, a few female White-winged Scoters, a few Cormorants and the first pairs of Harlequin Ducks. Walking on through the sheltered bushes added a few common species: Black-capped Chickadees, Northern Flicker, Anna’s Hummingbird (heard only), Spotted Towhee, Dark-eyed Junco and Song Sparrow. On the way to the Marina I stopped by the pond and saw two Hooded Mergansers and more Red-Breasted as well. nThe cry of the Belted Kingfisher helped me see where he had landed in a tree. At the West side of the Marina I walked the brick path and saw not a single thing on the water, on the docks (many of which were empty) or on the masts. Nothing.

Parking on the East side of the Marina, I walked out to the entrance channel and saw a few more Red-breasted Mergansers. One of them caught a fish which the gulls took as an invitation to go steal it. Kerfuffle ensued, but the Merganser prevailed. In the small bay the tide was well out and the rocks were all exposed. One male Harlequin was sitting there … waiting for Godot perhaps. Stepping over the logs to get to the beach brought nothing new, just a few more Mergansers and Harlequins off shore. A flock of 20 peeps flew over but I didn’t get a good enough look for an ID. A quick stop at the pond there showed only a flock of Mallards.

So I headed home, a little bit wet and wind-blown but not too bad. I didn’t see any hawks or even an Eagle, and I was sad to not even see a Great Blue Heron. Disappointed also that I didn’t handle the poor lighting conditions well and a lot of photos were simply not worth keeping! Still, 20 species in 2 hours with only this one pair of not very good eyes was a fine morning. And I filled up the PHEV with cheap American gas. Yes, a fine morning.

Report by Glen Bodie

Photos are on flickr

eBird checklist