14 birders joined leaders Harvey Dueck and Michelle Baudais for a morning of birding at Trout Lake on a beautiful sunny autumn Sunday. We were pleased to have a mix of familiar faces and new birders joining us for the first time.

As we started the walk, the lake was covered with Canada Geese. Surprisingly many wood ducks (45+) were hiding among the lily pads. The Northern Shovelers and other ducks kept to the margins of the lake, out of the way of the Canada Geese. A very stealthy Great Blue Heron skulked in a willow thicket.

We saw surprisingly few birds as we moved along the east side of the lake, but a few sparrows and Anna’s Hummingbirds posed where we could see them well. Some American Goldfinch also put in an appearance.

Coming back along the west side of the lake, there were lots more sparrows plus a Steller’s Jay, Bushtits and a flyover by a juvenile Bald Eagle.

We didn’t see huge numbers of birds, but we had some good views and managed to find 26 species (some of which we only heard). Thanks everyone for a pleasant outing! Thanks especially to Holly and Helen for maintaining eBird lists of the species we saw. Here is a link to Holly’s list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S198759435