Young Birder Trip to Pitt Lake

Young birders at Pitt Lake - Photo: Melissa Hafting

 We had a great field trip to Grant Narrows in Pitt Meadows, BC today with seven kids present. We started out first by finding a rare bird for the area, a House Wren he was on the east side of the dyke adjacent to the end of the Pitt Lake parking lot as you head South towards Catbird Slough. This was a lifer for many of the kids.

We then got a beautiful male singing American Redstart further south down the dyke which was another lifer for many of the kids. He provided great views and came down low which was a thrill.

Gray Catbirds serenaded us as we walked along and Black and Vaux's Swifts flew overhead. A Virginia Rail was chastising two River Otters that were swimming too close.We were happy to see a Bald Eagle nest with two begging Eaglets. There were lots of young out there as we saw Yellow Warblers carrying food and Common Yellowthroats and robins and even saw a Black-headed Grosbeak feeding its fledgling. We had a nice Hairy and Downy woodpecker down low which was a good comparison for the kids. Sandhill Cranes flew alongside us by the dyke and Eastern Kingbirds were chasing some Osprey. While we were eating lunch by the river a Peregrine Falcon flew over us. On the nature dyke trail we had Swainson's Thrushes hopping along the middle of the path which was neat to see as an Olive-sided Flycatcher called from the hillside.

Later, we watched Osprey on the nest feeding young. We were pleasantly surprised to see two Purple Martins resting on an Osprey nest platform as well.

Here are some of the birds we saw today:

Gray catbirds (lifer for many)
Male American Redstart (lifer for many)
Marsh Wren
Common Raven
Great Blue Heron
Black-headed Grosbeaks
Bewick's Wrens
Mute Swan on nest
Cliff swallow
Barn swallow
Wood Duck
Mallard
Brown-headed Cowbird
Bushtits
Black swifts
House wren (rare for the area and lifer for many)
Pine Sisken
Hairy Woodpecker
Eastern Kingbird
Downy Woodpecker
Sandhill Crane
Osprey
Bald Eagle nest with Eaglets
Rufous Hummingbird
Swainson's Thrush
Cedar waxwings
Common Yellowthroat
Willow Flycatcher
Yellow warbler
Virginia Rail
Turkey Vulture
Band-tailed Pigeon
Tree swallow
Vaux's Swifts
Peregrine Falcon
Warbling vireo
Violet-Green swallows
Pied-billed Grebe
Red-winged Blackbird
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Purple Martin
American Goldfinches
Ring-billed Gull
Savannah sparrow
Song sparrow
Northwestern Crow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow

All an all a great day with very pleasant weather and a great bunch of kids.

This is the last field trip that Alice Sun will be on with us as she moves to Montreal next month to start University at McGill. We are all going to miss her but proud of her amazing achievement, including her recent award for the NANPA high school scholarship program to TN.

Thanks again to all who came and to Ilya Povalyaev for helping out today.
If you would like to join the Young Birder Program see contact info and list of events HERE

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