PHOTO: Dunlin by Terry Carr…..
NOTE: Tuesday outing to Blaine was cancelled
Brrrrrr. I think that was the coldest day of birding since I joined the Delta Nats. At least it was dry or we might well have cancelled. We met just across the tracks on the Blaine Harbour road – Terry, Christine, Colin and Stephanie, Lindly, and Glen.
The water had a smaller than usual collection of Mallards with a few Northern Pintails, American Wigeon, Common Goldeneye and Green-winged Teal. We heard, then saw, a Killdeer fly by. Christine focused our attention on the call of a Kingfisher and she soon located it. We moved on to the end of the Pier. A few White-winged Scoters and a Horned Grebe were in the bay, with just a few Common Loons, Pelagic Cormorants and Red-breasted Mergansers in the channel. We didn’t linger in the cold.
We went down onto the docks as usual but saw little on the water or on the breakwater. We went down to the first set of docks because Colin had the gate key so we could see their boat which looked like it was waiting for better weather. But like everywhere else in the Marina, there were few birds to be seen. Finally, at the road to the boat launch we found birds! There were Killdeer resting on the road and the water had large collections of Canada Geese, Dunlin, Great Blue Herons, plus a Pied-billed Grebe, Greater Yellowlegs, Northern Pintails, Mallards (of course), Common Loons and Red-breasted Mergansers.
Dunlin by Glen Bodie
On the way around Drayton Harbor we stopped where California Creek outflows because we saw lots of Common Mergansers in the water. The tide was quite high. There were also American Wigeon, Common Goldeneye, Scaup, Hooded Merganser, Killdeer, Dunlin all along the shoreline and another Kingfisher up in a snag. As we continued around Drayton Harbor there continued to be Dunlin along the shoreline mixed with Canada Geese and the usual assortment of ducks. At the Semiahmoo Park the parking lot was like a skating rink. The north lookout gave us White-winged and Surf Scoters and a pair of Harlequin Ducks. The Drayton Harbor shoreline fronted us a stiff wind and waves and bobbing in that were Northern Pintails. We didn’t stay long and headed off to the Marina parking lot at the end.
Usually we can find a number of species on the docks and in the sheltered water but there was nothing, nothing at all. As we walked to the point we saw some juvenile Golden-crowned Sparrows and a female Red-breasted Merganser. Along the beach there we saw 2 Killdeer fly in and some Juncos on the ground. Looking out from the point gave us more Common Loons and Common Mergansers, and some heard an Oystercatcher fly by. We decided to have lunch in the Pub since it opened at noon. From there we saw more of the same birds and added two Black Turnstones on the shoreline. Over lunch we tried very hard to find some jokes about Owls – without much success. We were just leaving when a large black head appeared above the water out the windows which we assumed must have been a Sea Lion, but a very large one. It did not reappear. As we walked back to the cars there was a large juvenile Bald Eagle perched over the road just above eye level. It seemed very confident and willing to be photographed but then flew off to a tree-top perch. Our bounty for the day was a respectable, but frozen, 40 species as seen in the eBird list.
Report by Glen Bodie
Photos are on Flickr
Next Tuesday & Wednesday (February 11 & 12) the outings will be to Terra Nova Regional Park in Richmond.
Meet at 9 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 