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The
Birds of
Sargeant Bay Provincial Park
by Tony Greenfield
The park can be divided into 3
distinct
bird viewing areas:
a) the saltwater of
Sargeant Bay.
b) the berm & the
Colvin Lake wetland.
c) The upland forest
above
Redrooffs Road.
Each of these areas has a
diversity of
birds that varies by season.
a)
Sargeant Bay:
The best viewing
seasons on the bay are
winter & spring. For reasons unknown the number of species
& birds using this habitat declined drastically in the 1990’s.
Typically, look for loons, grebes, cormorants, seaducks (Barrows
Goldeneye, Surf Scoter, Common Merganser), alcids (Common Murre, Pigeon
Guillemot, and especially Marbled Murrelet), & gulls.
b) Berm and Colvin Lake:
Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, & other raptors such as Red-tailed
Hawk & Merlin may be seen at any season.
In winter the berm is generally quiet, but
on
the lake look for Pied-billed Grebe, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup,
Bufflehead & Hooded Merganser. The snags in the wetlands are used
by Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker & Steller’s
Jay. Red-winged Blackbirds may be present as early as January.
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 Male
and female Bufflehead
on ColvinLake
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Virginia Rail
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Virginia
Rails are resident, except if the wetland freezes in a cold snap.
In spring, the berm is a transit and
foraging area for Rufous Hummingbirds, migrant warblers in the
alder trees, and for sparrows on the berm itself. A pair of Killdeer
have nested on the berm for the last few years. Red-winged
Blackbirds dominate the wetland with their creaky song, and there are
many Common Yellowthroats in the cattails, while swallows may forage
overhead.
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In summer the rail and the yellowthroat continue in
the
wetland, and watch for Turkey Vultures soaring overhead with their
wobbly flight. The grassy and shrubby areas of the berm
host many sparrows in the fall including Savannah, Fox, Song,
Lincoln’s, Golden-crowned & White-crowned.
c) Upland:
In fall and winter the mixed
coniferous/deciduous
forest above Redrooffs Road is good for woodpeckers and forest species
such as Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Winter Wren, and Varied Thrush. Also
resident are Western Screech, Great Horned, Barred, and Northern
Saw-whet Owls.
In spring and summer the forest is home to
Band-tailed
Pigeon, woodpeckers, flycatchers, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Swainson’s
Thrush, vireos, warblers, Western Tanager and Black-headed Grosbeak.
For detailed
information on the 157
species of birds that can be seen in Sargeant bay Provincial Park,
consult the Checklist of Birds for Sargeant Bay Provincial Park by clicking:
List
of Birds
To view Great Blue
Herons on nest in wetland click: Nest
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