by Ken Pitts
Burnt Bridge Creek Trail at Devine Road was a great place to be on May 10th at 7:00 am. When Cheri Gavin and I arrived to lead the walk, American Robins were singing. Black-headed Grosbeaks also seemed to be competing for the most dominant song of the morning! I think the grosbeaks won. Sometimes this location can be challenging due to nearby encampments. Vancouver City crews had both the parking lot and restrooms clean as requested. They were ready for our group of eight birders and photographers.
It was fun to have a combination of folks who had a variety of goals in mind. Sam and Kiara were making this their first location for accomplishing a “Big Day.” They planned on heading to four other locations afterward and ended up with 86 species total. Jon, who took the above photo, arrived nearly an hour before the 7:00 am start time. He was already out shooting and joined us later. He took great species shots with his new 200-800mm lens. He uploaded a nice sample to our eBird list of 48 species.
Male Black-headed Grosbeak by Jon Pugmire 
Female Black-headed Grosbeak by Jon Pugmire 
Spotted Towhee with nesting materials by Jon Pugmire 
Song Sparrow by Jon Pugmire 
Dark-eyed Junco by Jon Pugmire 
American Robin by Jon Pugmire 
Vocalizing Bewick’s Wren by Jon Pugmire. 
A Red-tailed Hawk being pestered by an American Crow, by Jon Pugmire
Janet was happy to be present. She was immersed in conversation about the different species we were seeing. She also enjoyed helping others to see them. John is a high school aged student. He was a winner in last year’s Youth Photography Contest. He showed up with his dad, Matt. John is passionate about photography and influenced his dad to join him in the hobby of wildlife photography. We had productive conversations about what a VAS photography-focused young birders group could look like. John got a fantastic shot of a male Anna’s Hummingbird visiting Twin Berry Honeysuckle.
It is always a pleasure co-leading walks with Cheri! She brings a knowledge of native plants that is beyond what I know. Integrating that knowledge is helpful to understand bird behavior. Birds use different plants for nutrition, nesting, and choosing a perch. For example, male Black-headed Grosbeaks were using the highest perches to advertise for mates with their lovely songs.
The species of the day was a pair of Spotted Sandpipers. They were distracted with courtship and flew almost directly to our feet at the pond. Another species made an unusual appearance. A Red-breasted Sapsucker decided to tap on a high voltage transmission pole. It thought this was a good idea like the Northern Flicker who modeled it a few minutes earlier. We were alerted to the source change by how the tapping tapered to a slower pace before it ended. The cute award absolutely goes to the 10 tiny yellow fuzzy Mallard ducklings trailing their mom. They passed beneath us through a culvert to reappear on the other side.
It was great morning during my favorite time of year! Terrific people! Awesome nature! Everybody got some of what they came for.
Vancouver Audubon 