PHOTO: Weasel by Susan Gemeinhardt….
A group of ten naturalists gathered at the North 40 park at 8 am, on this bright sunny morning: Chris who kindly drove me today, Bill and Carolyn, Jeff, David, Claude, Freddie, Susan and Margaretha. The North 40 is the site of a historic second world war community and airfield. The buildings were removed many years ago, but the layout of the streets remain, now sheltered by large horse chestnut trees, poplars and conifers. Fields of long grass surround this site with water-filled ditches and trails criss-crossing the fields. Blackberry tangles with ripening fruit were very much in evidence. The whole area is open to dog walkers as an off-leash recreation area.
It was fairly obvious at 8 o’clock that it was going to be a hot day, and not ideal for birding. Despite that, many Common Yellowthroats were singing from the grassy areas and continued throughout our walk. They were the commonest bird of the day. I counted 22 singing birds, fairly evenly spaced out, but I only actually saw one. Black-capped Chickadees were also very vocal today, with many calling from the woodland areas and we had a small flock of Bushtits. A small flock of Brown-headed Cowbirds flew over; we saw and heard others later, too. These birds seem to be much more common than formerly, and they are parasitic on songbirds so not a very welcome species. A bright yellow American Goldfinch posed nicely on a bare branch for the photographers at the area I think of as “flycatcher corner”. However, I neither heard nor saw any flycatchers today, which was disappointing as the North 40 has always been a great location for them in the past. Perhaps others spotted some. A sparrow perched on top of a bush looked very much like a Golden-crowned Sparrow, normally a winter visitor only, but Freddie’s photo confirmed it was a beautiful Savannah Sparrow sitting in the sunshine. It was not the only one; Song and Savannah Sparrows called frequently throughout the park.
We also saw and heard small numbers of American Robins, Cedar Waxwings, and Bushtits during our walk. Two Bald Eagles soared above us, and I observed one Glaucous-winged Gull flying overhead. Three Downy Woodpeckers were heard calling in different parts of the park, but we didn’t see them. A weasel was a surprise sighting in the woodland area.
Heading out of the wooded area, bemoaning the lack of previously seen summer birds like grosbeaks and tanagers, I led the group through the long grass. Reassured by a passer-by we were on the correct trail back to the carpark, I nonetheless took a wrong fork through increasingly tall grass until we finally emerged at 72 St, luckily not too far up the road from the carpark. At this point we also realized we were one person short. After a brief flurry of concern, we were finally all reunited and decided to call it a day, with 19 species on the list.
Report by Anne Murray
Photos are on flickr
Next Tuesday (July 22) the outing will be to Jackman Wetlands in Langley.
TUESDAY ONLY. NO WEDNESDAY OUTING.
Meet at 8 am in the disc golf parking lot on the west side of 272nd St between 16th Ave & 8th Ave.
Raptors Knoll Disc Golf Park, 1111 272 St, Langley (across from Langley Transfer Station).
Delta Naturalists Society 