PHOTO: Snow Bunting by Susan Gemeinhardt…..
I arrived a few minutes late for our 9 am start and had to manoeuvre to find a parking spot. It was a very misty morning, but the rest of our birding group was ready and waiting: Noreen, Dave, Colin, Stephanie, Susan, Pat, Brian, Freddie, Douglas, Christine McG and Alexis.
It was a very misty morning as we took the trail to the dyke. Red-winged Blackbirds were calling in the reeds and there were two Buffleheads on the water. A Virginia Rail called briefly – I am not sure that anyone got a view of it though. Our target birds were shorebirds and the tide was perfect, with just enough sand uncovered to attract incoming flocks of Dunlin. Thousands of these small shorebirds winter in the Fraser Estuary and rely on mudflats like these at Tsawwassen and Roberts Bank. Excitingly, there were not only many flocks of Dunlin, too many to count, but also some very uncommon large shorebirds: 3 Hudsonian Whimbrel and one Long-billed Curlew, which we spotted on the return leg of our walk. A group of 6 Long-billed Dowitchers was also seen.
Waterfowl were numerous all along the shore, but the mist was so thick it was quite difficult to distinguish them at first. As it cleared through the morning, we were able to identify large flocks of American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Shovelers, Green-winged Teal and Northern Pintail. 4 Brant flew over, as did a Northern Harrier.
A Snow Bunting on the shore was an exciting bird to spot. The marshes and dyke banks were very quiet. On the return trip as the mist lifted, we saw somewhat more activity, mostly near the pond end. Here we had half a dozen American Goldfinches, some White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows, Song Sparrows and finally a Spotted Towhee – normally a very common bird – among the blackberry tangles. We also saw four Yellow-rumped Warblers foraging in the bushes. A few of these birds spend the winter at Boundary Bay and Roberts Bank every year now instead of migrating south further down the coast. One of the signs of a milder climate in recent years. The total list for the trip was 35 species.
Report by Anne Murray
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 