PHOTO: Bewick’s Wren by Terry Carr….
Nine Delta Nats met at Jackman Wetlands in Langley – Bob, Terry, Teresa, Connie, Christine, Freddie, Margaret, Claude and Dottie. Debbi arrived for her walk as we were leaving.
Around the parking lot were Crows, Starlings and White-crowned Sparrows. A small raptor on a distant branch was probably a Merlin. We heard a Killdeer. Part of this former landfill site includes a disc golf course which was being used by disc golfers. There was a bit of drizzle to begin with and a few wet and muddy spots on the path.
We walked our usual anti-clockwise route. A Bald Eagle was perched on top of a Douglas Fir and a flock of Cackling Geese flew over. On the ponds were Mallards, Wigeon, Bufflehead, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, Coots and Canada Geese. We also saw Song Sparrows, Robins, Varied Thrush, Anna’s Hummingbirds, Juncos, Flickers and Bewick’s Wrens.
After returning to the parking lot five us drove to the nearby Aldergrove Regional Park using the Aldergrove Bowl entrance. A Bald Eagle flew over and we heard, but could not see, a Red-tailed Hawk. We did see two noisy Steller’s Jays. We walked around the small pond which contained hundreds of ducks – Mallards, American Wigeon, Eurasian Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Bufflehead, Scaup, Pintail and Common Mergansers. Every now and then huge flocks of ducks flew out of the pond and back again. It was an incredible sight. We could not see what was disturbing them – so maybe it was just us. Flocks of Juncos seemed to be the only small birds around. As we approached the parking lot a Cooper’s Hawk flew into a distant tree. We followed it from distant tree to distant tree and managed to take a few photos through the branches before returning to the cars.
Although there was drizzle at the beginning it soon brightened and we had another very enjoyable outing.
Report by Terry Carr
Photos are on flickr
Terry’s eBird checklists
Jackman Wetlands
Aldergrove Regional Park
Debbi’s eBird checklist
Jackman Wetlands
Next Tuesday & Wednesday (January 20 & 21) the outings will be to Boundary Bay Dyke at 104th St.
Meet at 9 AM by Delta Heritage Air Park at the south end of 104th St.
To sign up for an outing, click on the DNS bird outing schedule sheet.
Delta Naturalists Society 