PHOTO: Spotted Towhee by Chris McVittie…..
It was a cold, wet early morning when two intrepid DNCB’ers (Jim and Chris) braved the ferry causeway. Visibility was bad. We could see ducks in the water at 8am, but had little idea what they were. At 8:25 it lightened up slightly, so we braved the heavy rain and left the car. It was still hard to ID any of the birds around. We did manage the resident Black Oystercatchers, a Common Merganser, Common Loon, many American Wigeon and White-winged Scoters. The rain persisted, and so we headed to Reifel expecting a bunch of DNCB no shows.
At Reifel, the rain had slowed and almost stopped. Surprisingly, there was only one no show, and we were met by Lynne, Warren, Brian and Louise. The day continued to be overcast. Near the entrance we adopted Margret, who was visiting from Ladysmith.
We set off on the usual route, seeing the usual species. On the Alaksen side path a group of Sandhill Cranes (14) were spotted in the field. This was the highlight of the day. They were on their migration south. Although we saw 30 species. there was nothing unusual. We were entertained for a while on the outer dyke by some Northern Harriers that were cavorting around and hovering. A large group of Hooded Mergansers was seen in the inner ponds (ten females and a solo male). He stayed for a while, and then, fed up with the conversation, took off to find some other male buddies to practice his courtship display.
A short report for a very pleasant outing with old friends. Just after 11am we ended in the warming hut and called it a day, saying farewell to Margret.
Species: Ferry 6, Reifel 30
Report by Chris McVittie
Photos are on Flickr
eBird Checklists:
Ferry Causeway
Reifel
Next week Tuesday 9 December the outing will be to Stanley Park – weather permitting. (Wednesday.10 December cancelled).
Meet at 9 AM below the Second Beach Swimming Pool. Follow Google maps to Second Beach Swimming Pool. Pay parking is in effect.
To sign up for an outing, click on the DNS bird outing schedule sheet.
Delta Naturalists Society 