Submitted by Cathy Walker

A Mud Bay / Boundary Bay excursion turned out to be a bit mixed.  On Sunday, April 26, a fellow hiker and I met at the Mud Bay parking lot at 9:30 am and the parking lot was about half full of cars. On Colebrook Road there had been a sign that the Mud Bay parking lot had limited parking so we were pleased we had no problem getting in.

The walk along Mud Bay / Boundary Bay along the dyke was pleasant, with the tide out a bit so shorebirds and ducks were having a good time. We saw lots of gadwalls shovelling away in the mud and a couple of black-bellied plovers which were quite lovely as well as the usual herons and what I presume were sandpipers. We saw an eagle eating a large flounder near the shoreline with another eagle watching it intently from further ashore. 

People walking and cycling the dyke were keeping 2 meters distance and there were certainly more than usual, except for warm weekend days in the summer when cyclists abound.
We walked from the Mud Bay parking lot north to 96th Street and back. It took us 1.5 hours in one direction, including some time for watching birds with binoculars.

As we were walking the dyke the Surrey Bylaw Enforcement truck came by.  By the time we got back to the parking lot after our 3-hour walk, there were two bylaw enforcement trucks with flashing lights. No problem leaving the parking lot but at the entrance to the road off Colebrook Road, they had put the gate down and another fellow was letting cars out but not cars in.

So, we seem to have a while before things get back to some sort of normalcy on the dykes. I would think a rainy day during the week would see less people and less concern by Surrey Bylaw people. But it would be less pleasant in terms of the ocean and the birds….
https://www.surrey.ca/culture-recreation/2023.aspx

Note: the parking lot at the northern far end, Boundary Bay Regional Park, is closed.