PHOTO: by Colin Huggett……
Nine DNS members and two guests enjoyed a sunny but cool walk along the Brunswick Point dyke. Starting west from the River Road car park with just a light breeze, we had good views of Canoe Pass and adjoining farmlands. There were few birds on the river, but the far bank yielded Wigeon, Red-breasted and Common Merganser, Greater Yellowlegs and a Great Blue Heron. The dyke verges held Song and White-Crowned Sparrows, Spotted Towhee, Starlings, and American Robin.
We had good views of a Rufous Hummingbird at the corner past the end of River Road, as well as the usual crowd of Double-crested Cormorants sunning themselves on the pilings in the river. Continuing south along the dyke we found a few Killdeer, and a large flock of Black-bellied Plovers, foraging in the recently plowed fields. Northern Harriers patrolled the fields and the foreshore, and many Bald Eagles kettled overhead or chased each other around the fields.
The wind picked up as the morning progressed and we were glad we hadn’t left our warm jackets in the car. Near the south end farmhouse we found Northern Flickers, Collared-Doves, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and, the highlight of the day, brief glimpses of a Merlin. The tide was quite low by now and the sandbanks were full of shorebirds, but too distant for confident ID’s. We did ID Dunlin and Black- bellied Plover but there were probably sandpipers and other waders we couldn’t make out. Ducks we saw were Green-winged Teal and a few Northern Shovelers.
The walk back to the parking lot was uneventful, although it seemed as if the river had become attractive and there were many Cormorants and Mergansers actively fishing in what had been an empty channel when we started. Total species count on our eBird list was a respectable, if unremarkable, 32, and Merlin heard an additional 3 or 4 that we didn’t see.
Report by Colin Huggett
Photos are on flickr
Next Tuesday and Wednesday (April 14 & 15) the outings will be to Brydon Lagoon & Hi Knoll Park in Langley.
Meet at 9 AM in the parking lot at 19850 53 Ave, Langley.
To sign up for an outing, click on the DNS bird outing schedule sheet.
Delta Naturalists Society 