PHOTO: Greater Yellowlegs by Colin Huggett….
A small group of birders – Colin, Glen and Stephanie – met up at the Blackie Spit parking lot at 8 am.
It was a cold, overcast day with rain threatening but never arriving. Margaretha joined the group shortly after. The first area we went to was Blackie Spit. There were almost no birds there. There were lots of rafts of birds in Mud Bay and on the sandbars but they were just a bit too far away to identify. A dozen or so seals lay on the sandbars with loads of gulls joining them. We did see a few Crows, Caspian Terns, Common Loons in the channel, Great Blue Herons, and two Horned Grebes.
Next we walked along the path to Savenye Area. Along the way we stopped by some rose hips and Mountain Ash trees. We saw some Sparrows and Towhees and heard a Bewick’s Wren. There were also Yellowlegs at the waters edge. The tide was out.
We then went around the dyke and saw a number of Mallards, Green-winged Teal and what looked like a hybrid Mallard/Shoveler. There was lots of splashing and chasing among the ducks. We also saw a large flock of Goldfinches flying from tree to tree and high overhead.
Then we went along to Dunsmuir Gardens where there were lots of flowers in bloom and grapes, squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, kale and Swiss chard – all ready to be picked. We saw a couple of raptors and Bushtits in this area.
On the way back we saw a Downy Woodpecker. We also had a debate over whether the Yellowlegs were Greater or Lesser and decided there were some of each.
The walk ended around 12:30. The total number of species we saw was 30. The sun was out by the time we finished our walk.
Report by Stephanie Huggett
Photos are on flickr
Next Wednesday (September 30) the outing will be to Boundary Bay Dyke at 64th St in East Ladner. note: Tues September 29 outing canceled due to forecast of poor weather
Meet at the south end of 64th St at 8 AM.
To sign up for an outing, click on the DNS bird outing schedule sheet.