PHOTO: Hudsonian Whimbrel by Glen Bodie…….
There were 3 DNCBers at the Ferry causeway in the heavy fog: Brian R, Lorna and Glen. We saw the sun start rising from the SE over Pt Roberts and, luckily, we saw a few birds in the high tide. The north side had a flock of Dunlin mumurating toward the beach and the water held a small number of Common Loons, Horned Grebes and Bufflehead. In the bay near the terminal there was a large flock of American Wigeon (based on their sound) and the perching islands held a mix of Pelagic and Double-crested Cormorants. We walked over to the south side for a quick look and the first thing seen was a lone Whimbrel at the water’s edge. A little further along was a Great Blue Heron perched on a stump, and back the other way were some (expected) Black Oystercatchers. Later, more Oystercatchers were heard coming from the bay near the Ferry Terminal. But it was time to go…
… to Reifel to make the 9am opening. There the group grew adding Richard, Connie, Vicky, Anne, Brian and Louise. The fog tried to lift a little but did a poor job of it. Even once we were out on the outer dike we still couldn’t see the shoreline. Right at the gift shop we saw the family of 4 Sandhill Cranes with the youngsters now almost as large as the parents. We took the usual route seeing lots of Red-winged Blackbirds and a Red-breasted Nuthatch. The Pond was full of the usual Mallards and an uncommonly large number of Northern Shovelers, a count which swelled greatly as we continued our walk. There was one Black-crowned Night-Heron in the usual tree and more Mallards lined the trail. At the lookout we were blanked on Herons for a change. One of the logs in the fogs had 3 one-legged grey lumps and the best guess was 3 Long-billed Dowitchers. Along the main trail north we were mobbed / tracked by Mallards, Black-capped Chickadees, Song Sparrows and Spotted Towhees. Two Golden-crowned Kinglets zipped around in a bush, and large flocks of Canada Geese could be heard in the adjacent fields.
Quite a birdy day – and we paid closer attention to nearby trees and bushes because much of what was further away was hidden in the fog. We heard Northern Flickers and Snow Geese and Trumpeter Swans and the occasional Gull.v But nearby were Fox Sparrows and few Golden-crowned Sparrows, a Brown Creeper, some American Robins, Dark-eyed Juncos and Purple Finches. We had fog-shrouded views of Great Blue Herons perched on top of the Purple Martin apartment blocks out in the Marsh. With the high tide, some species had been pushed in closer to the dike. Every few steps another Mallard or two would erupt noisily from the marsh and head off to somewhere else in the marsh. As we got to the outer dike some saw a Virginia Rail dart across the path. More Shovelers in the ponds, and Marsh Wrens in the reeds, a Cooper’s Hawk flew past over the marsh and a Northern Harrier patrolled the wetlands. Just after Anne suggested that we keep our eyes open for a Northern Shrike – there it was. A little far off, but unmistakable at the top of a tree.
The final leg back added some Bufflehead males, a large collection of American Coots, some female Hooded Mergansers, more Pintails and Wigeon. And Lorna brought us luck finding a Belted Kingfisher perched in a tree across the water. Some retired to the warming hut for a quick shot of heat. Others watched the Sandhill Cranes who had moved up to the Parking Lot to welcome the next gaggle of birders.
We had a rather excellent day of birding given the less than promising tide and weather. There were 10 species at the Ferry Terminal and 42 species at Reifel with only 3 species seen in both places.
Report by Glen Bodie
Photos are on Flickr
eBird list for Ferry by Glen at https://ebird.org/checklist/S204497483
and for Reifel by Anne at https://ebird.org/checklist/S204498708
Next Tuesday & Wednesday (December 10 & 11) the outings will be to Centennial Beach in Tsawwassen.
Meet at 9 am in the concession/washroom parking lot.
To sign up for an outing, click on the DNS bird outing schedule sheet.
Delta Naturalists Society 