October 22 - Boundary Bay 64 St and Brunswick Point

 I took a vacation day on this Thursday and visited these two locations in South Delta.

Boundary Bay 64 St, Delta BC

I visited this location hoping to see a Black Phoebe that had been reported there on the BC Bird Alert. I did not see any Phoebes, but the location was busy with a good assortment of birds, likely due to an abundance of berries on the shrubs and trees along the dike.

The most common birds were Yellow-rumped Warblers, all in their first winter plumage.

Yellow-rumped Warbler - 64 St. Boundary Bay, Delta BC

The second most common birds were the White-crowned Sparrows, also in first-winter plumage.

White-crowned Sparrow - 64 St. Boundary Bay, Delta BC

Here's another common bird, a Mallard in full breeding plumage.

Mallard - 64 St. Boundary Bay, Delta BC

This one is practicing for a log rolling competition.

Yet another common bird, the recently renamed American Crow.

American Crow - 64 St. Boundary Bay, Delta BC

I got a few more Warblers shots as I left, including this clear look at the yellow rump.

Yellow-rumped Warbler - 64 St. Boundary Bay, Delta BC

Brunswick Point, Delta BC

My next stop was this location at the western end of River Road in South Delta. It requires some walking to get to the birdy areas, but today it was well worth it. My primary goal was to see an Ash-throated Flycatcher that had been on the Rare bird Alert for a while. This would require a 2 KM walk along the dyke path.

Just past the parking area, I've seen a Bald Eagle perched like this many times before. 

Bald Eagle - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

There's lots of wide open grassy areas here, a good hunting location for Harriers. The brownish colour of this bird indicates it is a female.

Norther Harrier - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

A feature of birding in Delta at this time of year are the flocks of Snow Geese, and some flew overhead as I started my walk on the dyke path.

Snow Geese - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

I got a closer shot of a straggler.

I was close to the area where the Flycatcher had been seen, but the first birds encountered were not what I was looking for.

European Starlings - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

At the start of the walk I had spoken to a woman who had been looking for the Flycatcher. She had not seen it, but did see a Northern Shrike in the area where the Flycatcher was seen. This sounded like a bad omen, as the Shrike is a songbird hunter and killer.

However, this was my lucky day. I arrived at the area off the path, made my way in, and found the bird almost immediately. This was not a lifer, I'd seen one in Delta in 2014.

Ash-throated Flycatcher - Brunswick Point, Delta BC - 2020 Bird #120

The bird was not shy and I got some close shots.

One more shot:

As the woman had mentioned, the Northern Shrike was in the same area as the Flycatcher.

Northern Shrike - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

This shot shows the hook on the beak, used for tearing the flesh of its prey.

I made the walk back to the parking area, and met the woman again. I told her I saw both the Flycatcher and the Shrike. We birded together for a little while and both got great shots of a Merlin near the parking area.

Merlin - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

And one last shot, the Merlin is one of my favourite birds to see.

Merlin - Brunswick Point, Delta BC

That ended my day. I'd repeat the entire day two days later with my friend Mary-Jean, but not with quite the same results. That's detailed in the next post.