Report by trip leader Christine Balkwill

Eight eager birders met before 730 AM.  We did a brief overview of the founding purpose of Nature Vancouver for our 2 newcomers and did self-introductions before heading out.  We logged a couple of common birds in the field before moving toward the pond.  A lone male Northern Pintail was a nice surprise but the pond was relatively quiet with just a single female Bufflehead, one American Coot, and a few Mallards.  The Barn Swallows have arrived and are again nesting under the bridge.  We paused to watch them and admire a couple of Tree Swallows perched in good view on a small branch.  We heard a Common Yellowthroat at this location but despite circling back later we never did get a look.  This was a common theme for the next little while as we headed into the forest and clearly heard Western Flycatcher and a Wilson’s Warbler nearby.  My first of the year for the Wilson’s.  We heard a few more Western Flycatcher along the walk but never saw one.  We did find a few Yellow-rumped Warbler, both Audobon’s and Myrtle, and enjoyed the frequent chatter of American Goldfinch as we walked.  Elisa spotted a shorebird that we determined was a Least Sandpiper based on size and the yellow legs.  We got a much better look at it almost 2 hours later on our return route.  We heard or saw more of the usual locals – Spotted Towhee, Brown Creeper, Bushtits, Downy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Higher up in the forest we came upon a photographer watching an Anna’s Hummingbird nest and boy, were those babies big!  Ready to fledge any minute.  Very fun to see them.  Then, another highlight, the female Barred Owl was standing just outside the nest hole.  I think we could even hear the owlets inside!  At this point we came to our turn around and fortunately a few of us needed to use the washrooms.  Fortunately, because had we not branched in that direction we would have missed the Pilieated Woodpecker that was foraging there.

On our return route we checked the west end of the pond and it was quite birdy there – Northern Flickers, Goldfinch, our first Song Sparrow and Savannah Sparrow, a Brown-headed Cowbird.  We watched a Bald Eagle fly by with a branch so big that he was clearly working hard to stay aloft.  Nestorations in the works.

We then looped around toward the sailing centre and found a blossom covered tree was busy with small birds.  We definitely identified an Orange-crowned Warbler here but it was hard for everyone to get a good look.    On the beach we identified one Common Loon, a few cormorants, and a Short-billed Gull which was very far out.  The Horned Grebes seem to have moved on from the little bay here.  We wrapped up with a second look at the pond  where we got a better look at our sandpiper and discovered that 4 gorgeous Shovelers had arrived.  The two local Wood Ducks were here too and the Mallard ducklings were fun to watch zipping around.

We all shared our favourite bird of the day and they were almost all different!  Everyone agreed that the birds made us work for our list today and there were a few cases of “warbler neck” but it was a lovely outing and we all enjoyed it.

See our list of 41 species here:  ebird.org/checklist/S330557065