sunday morning birding

[josterhold]

hello birders
went out this sunday morning to see if i could find any swallows. i usually see some of the first swallows over the fraser or vedder rivers; but there were none to be found. i even tried the jesperson pond, sardis pond and the heron reserve; no swallows. the highlights were a pair of canvasbacks on jesperson pond, in a mixed flock of gulls there were 15 ring-billed gulls, 8 mew gulls, 2 california gulls, 2 herring gulls, and 1 thayer's gull with 30+ glaucous-winged gulls, 3 meadowlarks in three different locations all singing high in trees(beautiful song!) and loads and loads of robins(600+) and red-winged blackbirds(400+).
here is a list of the birds in no particular order:
wood duck
lesser scaup
mallard
canvasback
mew gull
ring-billed gull
glaucous-winged gull
california gull
herring gull
american robin
red-winged blackbird
brewer's blackbird
european starling
house sparrow
house finch
canada goose
red-tailed hawk
merlin
peregrine falcon
sharp-shinned hawk
northern harrier
trumpeter swan
common goldeneye
bufflehead
great blue heron
bald eagle
common merganser
hooded merganser
double-crested cormorant
dark-eyed junco
spotted towhee
black-capped chickadee
chestnut-backed chickadee
red-breasted nuthatch
brown creeper
hairy woodpecker
downy woodpecker
pileated woodpecker
northern flicker
northwestern crow
common raven
pied-billed grebe
varied thrush
steller's jay
song sparrow
ring-necked duck
killdeer
rock pigeon
i think that is all.

jason
ryder lake,bc

[tmanson]

Jason: Nice list of birds. It does seem a bit late for at least a few swallows to appear. I see someone in Victoria had a Violet-Green yesterday. Cheers, Thor

Thor Manson
Hope, B.c.

[Gord]

Great minds think alike! I stopped at the Heron Reserve for a few minutes to see if there was a swallow about but none for me either. The weather felt so perfect! There were honey bees at Mom's crocus that really gave the spring feeling a buzz.

Got some cool views of a Bewick's wren though at the Reserve. Came right out of the bush and was easy to see! They really started to sing as I was leaving too.

[Dave]

I was out Sunday for a short walk around the Loop Trail and to the viewing platform at Cheam Wetlands. I had 3 birds in mind: Swallows, a Redhead (have seen 1 there before this time of year), and as always Northern Pygmy Owl. I guess I should have been at Hope Airport instead. I went 0 for 3. The woods were still quiet, as was the marsh area. I am surprised that I have not seen a Marsh Wren in a long time. Last year the wrens were present 12 months of the year. I haven't seen or heard on since last October. There was a winter wren in the woods, as well as another wren that sure seemed like a House Wren. I dismissed the thought though due to the fact that it is the beginning of March, after all. When I was pissing another group of birds, it started chirping a single harsh note. I thought it sounded different, so focused on it, but only got brief views in the brambles. It wasn't a Bewick's, but I will leave it as a Winter.

The lake had several hundred ducks. A relatively large number of Lesser Scaup (150+) was surprising. The rest was as expected.

It sure was a beautiful day....should have went to Hope!

Dave

[kastern]

I've been wondering when a Marsh Wren would show up too. They've been here as early as mid February other years...but none so far. Worked in the yard most of Sunday and kept looking skyward hoping for a Tree Swallow...but nothing. Walked in the rain this afternoon and found a couple of Winter Wren along with the hundred plus Red Wings calling from the top of one of the eagle trees (with a juvenile Bald Eagle sitting in the midst), quite a few robins about and a couple of Kildeer and that was about it. Only saw 1 mallard but there were a couple of fishermen out on the flats, just the other side of the nearby water so guess that was why.

Kathy

[Gord]

Dave, there was a marsh wren at Cheam Lake late last week on the Loop Trail right at the beginning when you first get into the marsh. But Im with you and Kathy, they are not like they usually are be it staying all winter or showing up!