PHOTO: Bird’s Nest Fungi by Fen Winston….
13 Delta Nats met at Boundary Bay Dyke at 104th St in dense fog – Jeff, Dorothy, Connie, Christine G, Lee, Jacquie, Fen, Teresa, Bob, Dottie, Freddie, Lori and Terry. We could barely make out a pair of Bald Eagles vocalizing on a treetop and some American Wigeon and Green-winged Teal in the water. Christine had just come from the Dyke on the Tsawwassen First Nation near the 41B Street pond where there was no fog and where she had seen a Beaver, Whimbrels and more. So we decided to move our outing there instead.
We drove in convoy and parked by the 41B Street pond. Walking from the parking area to the dyke we had sightings of Red-winged Blackbirds, Song Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, Mallards, Green-winged Teal and Bufflehead. Herons and Eagles were perched on pilings.
The tide had brought hundreds of ducks close to shore – mainly Northern Pintail and American Wigeon – with some Mallards and Green-winged Teal mixed in. Then we spotted the 3 Hudsonian Whimbrels walking fast among the ducks. Huge murmurations of Dunlin moved back and forth, occasionally landing close to shore and rapidly probing the mud, before changing locations. Several Eagles were watching from various perches.
We did not see the Snow Bunting or Curlew that had been reported here. We did see Marsh Wrens, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and more Song Sparrows and White-crowned Sparrows. Fen found some neat Bird’s Nest Fungi on a log.
On the way back to the cars we added an Anna’s Hummingbird and large flocks of Robins, along with Chickadees, and Towhees gorging on Hawthorn berries.
This was a new destination for many and it was a lovely outing without fog. Driving home along Tsawwassen Drive we spotted a Belted Kingfisher in a tree over what we used to call Kingfisher Bridge.
Report by Terry Carr
Photos are on flickr
Next Tuesday & Wednesday (January 27 & 28) the outings will be to Serpentine Fen in Surrey.
Meet at 9 AM in the parking lot on King George Blvd by the bridge over the Serpentine River.
To sign up for an outing, click on the DNS bird outing schedule sheet.
Delta Naturalists Society 