We had unexpectedly good weather for our bird walk along the seawall at Stanley Park – which meant it was a high overcast with no wind and no rain. The ocean was unexpectedly smooth, and all the extra layers we brought for warmth didn’t end up being needed. It was a small group of 8 attendees.

We started at Second Beach and walked past the pool, and immediately found our target birds: a Common Loon and a Horned Grebe, both in breeding plumage! There was also a group of Barrow’s Goldeneyes and a couple Common Goldeneyes feeding among the rocks, and some Buffleheads further out.

Next we walked north around the point, stopping along the way to admire some of the Barrow’s Goldeneyes that had come quite close. We were also treated with a good look at the less common Red-Breasted Merganser.

We were mostly looking for ducks, so we were surprised by a Yellow-Rumped Warbler on the beach, including a clear view of the yellow throat that marks it as the Audubon’s subspecies. It was the first of the year for several folks!

We walked far enough to see Third Beach with the hope of finding Black Oystercatchers, but we were disappointed.

Overall, a quiet day for spring birding, but it was good to get some rare looks at breeding plumage sea birds. Full details of birds seen in the eBird checklist.