Christmas Bird Count for Youth in Delta
BC Young Birders on a sunny day at Reifel for our Christmas bird count for youth - Photo: Kris Cu
On Saturday Dec 6th we had our annual Christmas Bird Count for youth at Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta. We lucked out with mostly sunny weather for our count. Unfortunately 5 kids were sick that day, as it is cold and flu season, but 10 children still came out for a fun-filled day. Birds Canada’s Kris Cu interviewed and filmed the youth today for an upcoming project as well!
We noticed we did not see any owls during our count, which is very unusual. We did not see any Short-eared Owls, Northern Saw-whets, Great Horned, Barred or even an uncommon Rough-legged Hawk.
The youth may have been a little disappointed over that but we had a lot of great birds to distract us and some of the younger youth enjoyed feeding the Black-capped Chickadees along the way.
Black-capped Chickadee eating sunflower seeds at Reifel - Photo: Claire Tong
One of our main highlights was watching 18 Sandhill Cranes bathe right in front of us at the main house pond, right after we entered. Staff told us they had lost a few due to Avian Flu sadly.
Sandhill Cranes coming to bathe at the house pond at Reifel was a true spectacle - Photo: Toby Ye
Sandhill Cranes coming to bathe at the house pond at Reifel was a spectacle - Photo: Toby Ye
Sandhill Cranes coming to bathe at the house pond at Reifel was a spectacle - Photo: Toby Ye
Sandhill Crane coming to bathe at the house pond at Reifel was a spectacle - Photo: Leo J.
We spotted the lone adult Black-crowned Night-Heron at the entrance and lots of House Sparrows.
Black-crowned Night-Heron in Delta - Photo: Toby Ye
House Sparrow at Reifel - Photo: Claire Tong
We were looking for a White-throated Sparrow Brian Self had spotted a day before but we couldn’t find him at the entrance feeder. We did find a beautiful rarwe Maculatus subspecies of Spotted Towhee though and some banded Golden-crowned Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos. Maculatus Towhee have a lot more white on their tertials and scapulars and on their under-tail.
Maculatus Spotted Towhee in Delta - Photo: Toby Ye
Banded Golden-crowned Sparrow in Delta - Photo: Claire Tong
Dark-eyed Junco in Delta - Photo: Claire Tong
The youth were also delighted by the many Trumpeter Swans flying low over us and out towards the marsh and foreshore, which was a treat.
Trumpeter Swan at Reifel - Photo: Leo J.
Trumpeter Swans over Reifel - Claire Tong
There was a large king tide so the tide was very high and we watched Northern Harriers swoop and dive and catch many drowning voles. This is why we were even more surprised we didn’t see any Shorties and Roughies joining in to eat the voles. Many Marsh Wrens were singing and posing on logs as well since the water was so high. Ring-billed, Short-billed and Glaucous-winged Gulls were also going after them.
Northern Harrier with vole in Delta - Photo: Toby Ye
Female Northern Harrier carrying vole at Reifel - Photo: Leo J.
There were many Great Blue Herons feasting on the voles but we did not find an American Bittern, despite trying.
There were lots of Northern Shovelers, Mallards, Green-winged Teals, Ring-necked, Buffleheads, Lesser Scaup, Pied-billed Grebes, Northern Pintails, American and Eurasian Wigeons, Gadwall, Wood Ducks, Common Mergansers (one of the males was almost completely pink from the food it ate) and we enjoyed watching Hooded Mergansers doing their courtship displays.
A stunning Northern Pintail drake in Delta - Photo: Leo J.
Mallard drake in Delta - Photo: Leo J.
Ring-necked Duck in Delta - Photo: Claire Tong
Northern Shoveler drake in Delta - Photo: Claire Tong
We were surprised to see only a single Long-billed Dowitcher sitting on a log in Fuller’s Slough. The only other shorebird we had were Dunlin. Claire enjoyed feeding the American Coots with Rose and Elsa and the many Red-winged Blackbirds.
Youth feeding the Red-winged Blackbird in Delta - Photo: Claire Tong
We walked the full entrance road looking for Canvasbacks and for any Bohemian Waxwing or Pine Grosbeaks mixed in with the American Robins eating crabapples. We didn’t find them but we did find an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk who was eating a small bird.
American Robin in the crabapples in Delta - Photo: Claire Tong
The entrance road was full of Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Bewick’s Wrens, a couple Yellow-rumped Warblers, Pacific Wrens, Oregon Juncos, Golden-crowned Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, Song Sparrows and more. The youth had fun watching a Brown Creeper Cole spotted climbing up the tree.
We had a nice time watching a pair of Belted Kingfishers and pointing one out to a lady who said it was her favorite bird. Her happiness over seeing them really brought us all joy. There were lots of Bald Eagles out also catching voles and we found a pair interacting at a nest as well, which was so cool to see.
Pair of Bald Eagles at Reifel - Photo: Leo J.
Bald Eagle at Reifel - Photo: Leo J.
Bald Eagle pair at nest at Reifel - Photo: Claire Tong
We had large flocks of Snow Geese flying over us and the youth spotted 2 blue morphs as well! We also had some Cackling Geese that Kris spotted for us as well.
Blue-morph Snow Goose in the Snow Goose flock over Reifel - Photo: Leo J.
There were at least 8 Anna’s Hummingbirds active at the feeders and the youth got some nice photos of the males flaring their fuschia-coloured gorgets.
Male Anna’s Hummingbird in Delta - Photo: Leo J.
Anna’s Hummingbird in Delta - Photo: Claire Tong
We had a great count with lovely weather and happy young birders. Thank you to Reifel Bird Sanctuary for letting the youth in for free on this special day. Thanks to all youth who came out and look forward to seeing you in the spring/summer of 2026 for our next field trips! Wishing you all Happy Holidays this Christmas season.
