PHOTO: Eastern Cottentail Rabbits by Alex Edwards……..
11 birders met at the 8th Avenue entrance to Aldergrove Regional Park – Lorraine, Lorna, Connie, Teresa, Alex B (from Penticton), Grace, Alex E, Naoko, Jonathan, Dawne & Terry.
There were Robins and rabbits everywhere. We heard and saw a Swainson’s Thrush – then heard tapping and saw a busy Hairy Woodpecker. Hairy Woodpeckers are larger than Downy Woodpeckers and have a longer bill. There was a Downy Woodpecker farther along on our route too.
From the bridge crossing a creek we spotted some crayfish. There were more rabbits in the Nature Discovery Area, and we heard and then saw a pair of Western Tanagers.
On the Nature Discovery Loop we saw Flickers, Cedar Waxwings, Common Yellowthroats, Willow Flycatchers and a single Bushtit. Through the bullrushes in the small overgrown pond we got glimpses of a Wood Duck and a Mallard family. A Green Frog was well camouflaged on the edge of the pond. We heard many other birds on our route including a Kingfisher that some of us saw diving into the creek near the parking lot.
We then drove to the parking lot at Aldergrove Bowl for the path going around the large pond. The pond was visible at a few breaks in the bushes where we could see some endangered Western Painted Turtles on logs and Mallards and Wood Ducks. We heard and saw more of the same birds as earlier. The warm weather meant that there were dragonflies and other insects to photograph.
This was a pleasant outing in a very large park that was a new destination for many of the participants. It was nice to meet up with Alex who was visiting from Penticton. He joined several of our outings on the DNS Okanagan trip in 2022.
Report by Terry Carr
Photos are on flickr
eBird checklists:
Next Tuesday & Wednesday (August 4 & 5) the outings will be to Burnaby Lake Regional Park.
Meet at 8 AM by the Nature House (4519 Piper Ave) at the south end of Piper Ave (off Winston St).
To sign up for an outing, click on the DNS bird outing schedule sheet.