Birders,

Yesterday, Feb. 25, I spent about an hour birding at Mud Bay Park
in Surrey, located off Colebrook Road at the mouth of the Serpentine
River. The AMERICAN AVOCET which has been seen there for most of
the winter was present among the gulls on the far (south) shore of the
estuary, east of the railway trestle. Other shorebirds included 2
GREATER YELLOWLEGS, 4 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, 2
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, and about 1500 DUNLIN. At least
2000 dabbling ducks (mainly AMERICAN WIGEON) were present, but
no unusual species were among them.

Despite a sign which has been posted warning visitors
that the Burlington Northern tracks and land beyond are
private property, it is still easy to access the Serpentine estuary
by crossing the tracks and walking a short distance south along
the dirt road on the east side of the tracks. Of course, you
should be wary of approaching trains (one blew past as I was there).
However, the north dyke of the Serpentine River leading east from
the RR trestle has a big new fence blocking access, and a
"No Trespassing" sign. This is a shame, because this was a good
birding area to which public access was allowed for many years.


A visit shortly afterward to Blackie Spit produced 6 GREATER
YELLOWLEGS, but no sign of the hoped-for MARBLED GODWITS.

I also visited Blackie Spit on Thursday, Feb. 23, with only a little
better luck. The most interesting bird was a male EURASIAN x
AMERICAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL hybrid, displaying both the horizontal
white stripe of the Eurasian form and the vertical white bar of the
American form. As has been noted on some other birding groups,
hybrids or intergrades between these two forms seem to be getting
more and more frequent. Also present were 4 GREATER YELLOWLEGS
and 2 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, but still no godwits (drat!).

I seem to have a knack for attracting unpleasant weather. On both
Thursday and Saturday, the weather seemed calm and pleasant when I
left home, but strong winds had materialized by the time I got to
Blackie Spit or Mud Bay-- west winds on Thursday, east winds on
Saturday. With my scope wobbling in the wind and tears welling into
my eyes, I had trouble focussing on the Avocet yesterday. Hopefully,
winter is nearing its end and we will get some better weather in March!

Good luck and good birding,

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net