PHOTO: Great Blue Heron with Sculpin by Terry Carr….
19 of us, including some Delta Nature Kids families, gathered on Saturday at Centennial Beach in Boundary Bay Regional Park. On the way we had passed a flock of Snow Geese in the field across the road from the park. There was one Bald Eagle in a tree above the parking lot. Susan and Teresa spotted a Cooper’s Hawk land in another tree. We setup the scope on it and everyone got a good look before it left.
In the pond were Mallards, American Wigeon, Northern Shovelers and a female Lesser Scaup. More Eagles landed in nearby trees. The water in the bay was very calm, and there was a lovely view of Mt Baker and other snowcapped peaks. A flock of Wigeon was close to shore, but the tide was too high for shorebirds.
We had a careful look for the female Mountain Bluebird that has been here for several weeks. It has usually perched on the rope fence between flights to grab insects. Sadly we did not see it. In fact there were very few small birds along our route on this very cool morning. We did see a few Brewer’s Blackbirds, Song Sparrows, Golden-crowned Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, House Finches, Robins, Chickadees, Flickers and large flocks of Starlings.
Brant Geese, Canada Geese, Northern Pintail and Common Mergansers flew over. In the lagoon were Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintails and more Shovelers. A Great Blue Heron scooped up a fish and took several minutes to get it in the right position for swallowing.
There were huge flocks of ducks – mainly Wigeon and Pintails – in the water by the pump house. These were raised by Eagles and a Northern Harrier, and soon they were far out in the bay. A flock of Long-billed Dowitchers was also raised by the Eagles, but settled back on the shore.
Among the Mallards in the water behind the pump house, a gorgeous male Hooded Merganser was diving and bringing up small fish. On the way back to the cars we finally saw some Spotted Towhees. It had been a very enjoyable walk on a clear cool fall morning.
Report by Terry Carr
Photos are on Flickr
Next Tuesday & Wednesday (Dec 2 & 3) the outings will be to Tsawwassen Ferry Causeway & Reifel.
Some people may meet on the ferry causeway at 8 AM. The parking pullout is part way along the north side of the causeway.
Meet at Reifel at9 AM. DNS has been booked as a group. You do not need to book parking – just tell the gatekeeper that you are part of the DNS group booking. Non-Reifel members will need to pay admission.
To sign up for an outing, click on the DNS bird outing schedule sheet.
Delta Naturalists Society 