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We had good weather and a good turnout of over 30 people for our June Bird Walk at Sam Smith Park. Don Burton led the walk through the southern part of the park where we found a good variety of breeding birds and their young. There were even a few lingering winter birds on the lake: Bufflehead and Red-breasted Merganser. We found Willow Flycatchers, Catbirds, and Yellow Warblers, probably all breeding in the park. Families of birds included Canada Geese, Tree Swallows, Barn Swallows, Spotted Sandpipers, Red-winged Blackbirds, and Song Sparrow rearing a Cowbird twice its size.
Although they should have nested weeks ago, a pair of Red-necked Grebes were courting and making attempts at building a nest along the east side of the harbour area.
Other birds of note included both Common and Caspian Terns, as well as a single Herring Gull along with the far more numerous Ring-billed Gulls. A Common Loon was heard calling on the lake, but we didn’t see it. Notably scarce was Savannah Sparrow. They are normally common breeders here, but I don’t think we saw or heard any on our walk.
This was the last walk until September. The date of that one is still t.b.a., but it will be listed on the Activities page and the Bird Walks page when it’s confirmed.
Many thanks again to Birds & Beans, the ongoing sponsor of these walks.
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