PHOTO: Cooper’s Hawk by Terry Carr…..
Eight Delta Nats met at the end of 64th Street to walk along the dyke – Bob, Fen, Susan, Teresa, Dottie, Connie, Dorothy and Terry. It was a very cold foggy morning so it was hard to see the birds. We could hear gunshots but we could not see the hunters in the fog.
A Bald Eagle was perched in a tree feeding on a carcass that had feathers and a striped tail – so it was probably a raptor. Robins, Golden-crowned Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, Starlings, Towhees and House Finches were feeding on crab apples and berries. There were small flocks of Yellow-rumped Warblers moving quickly through the bushes. A Northern Harrier was patrolling the marsh and Pigeons and Eurasian Collared-Doves flew over. More Eagles were perched in trees and we could hear, but not see, more of them in the fog close to the shore.
In the pond and on the grass by the large house were mainly American Wigeon with a few red-headed Eurasian Wigeon mixed in, along with some Mallards, Coots, Green-winged Teal, and a female Bufflehead. We could barely make out a Great Blue Heron standing in the marsh and it later made a noisy flyover. We heard and then saw Killdeer in the field and then a well-camouflaged flock of Dunlin flew into the field. We heard a woodpecker tapping and later saw a Northern Flicker that may have been the tapper.
The fenced electrical area often has raptors perched on posts and wires. An Eagle was on top of the tallest pole, a Cooper’s Hawk flew from a post to the top of a sign, and a Flicker was perched on a wire. That was our turn around spot. The fog was not lifting. We saw more of the same birds on the way back and added three Yelllowlegs in the field, a Pied-billed Grebe in the pond by the large house, and a Fox Sparrow. We tried to identify the partially eaten carcass of a large dead bird on the other side of the ditch. It had non-webbed orange feet – possibly a raptor.
We had been watching for the Say’s Phoebe that has been here for a few days. As we approached our starting point at 64th Street, some other birders told us that it was by the gate across the dyke path. We found that it had moved into the farm field below the dyke there. Say’s Phoebe is a relatively rare flycatcher in this area and it made a nice ending to the cool foggy walk. Then a coyote walked by adding another neat sighting.
Report by Terry Carr
Photos are on flickr
Next Tuesday & Wednesday (January 6 & 7) the outings will be to Surrey Lake Park, 7500 152nd St, Surrey.
Meet at 9 AM in the parking lot.
To sign up for an outing, click on the DNS bird outing schedule sheet.
Delta Naturalists Society 