PHOTO: 13 Bald Eagles by Glen Bodie….
After checking with each other on Tuesday evening to make sure we were all reading the same weather forecast, Anne, Colin, Stephanie and Glen met at Deas Island. There were Bufflehead, Scaup and Mallards in front of the Rowing Club and we could hear Varied Thrush from deep in the woods.
The trail through the woods and along the slough offered Spotted Towhees, Song Sparrows, Starlings, Robins, Pine Siskins and Black-capped Chickadees. Margaretha appeared out of nowhere making us 5. As we continued alongside the slough there were increasing numbers of Bald Eagles – 2 here, 3 there, then 2 more and another 4. There was a Downy Woodpecker, a Brown Creeper, a Red-breasted Nuthatch and a Northern Flicker.
We stayed on the outermost trail where the soil becomes sandy and the trees turn to Conifers, hoping for Kinglets or Finches or Crossbills. But what we got was more and more Bald Eagles, and quite a racket of crows. That raised our interest, and we searched to see if they were harassing some poor Owl. Margaretha’s keen eyes found the Great Horned Owl, deep in the branches, with crows swooping around and sitting on all available perches. Just past there we heard another GHO calling, or maybe it was the same one, we’re not sure. In the bush there we heard one of the calls of the Bewick’s Wren but we couldn’t locate it.
Wandering back along the riverside trail we were checking the river for ducks, but we saw nothing until the very end when there was a Double-crested Cormorant and, in the distance, 2 Red-breasted Mergansers and some Scaup (probably Lesser). We did see and hear a Ruby-crowned Kinglet singing its springtime song, and we heard a lot more Robin song than had been around earlier in the day, and finally a Junco. The arborists had been at work, both the municipal ones and the natural ones (Castor canadensis) who were all doing a fine job of felling trees along the trails and creeks.
It was just starting to drizzle a little, so we called it quits with a total of 31 species.
Report by Glen Bodie
Photos are on Flickr
Next Tuesday & Wednesday (March 18 & 19) the outings will be to Burnaby Lake Regional Park
Meet at 9 am by the Nature House (4519 Piper Ave) at the south end of Piper Ave (off Winston St).
To sign up for an outing, click on the DNS bird outing schedule sheet.
Delta Naturalists Society 