The Rifle Bird Sanctuary

Today we went on a fantastic field trip to the Rifle Bird Sanctuary on a little island just at the edge of Delta. The grade 9 Synergy student went with us as well. We rode the bus for about 40 minutes, and then there we were: at the bird sanctuary! It was larger than I thought. As we got off the bus and started walking, herds of ducks began to gather around us, their eyes squinted as if they were wondering if we have any food or not. Our first stop was the little bird museum. The museum staff via our guide introduced us to different variety of birds and even quizzed us a little just to test how much we know about birds. Then we were allowed to walk around the museum and discover. Bird and small animal models were lined up neatly on the display case and shelves, and there was even a large whale back bone. I was so thrilled to see all these fine specimen, but our guide said it was time to see the 'real thing' and promised us it would be 10 times more magnificent than the models. We walked on the small trail, holding our birdseed bags. Herds of ducks were already following us again and had gathered around the spilled grain on the ground, pecking and quacking like crazy. As we got deeper into the sanctuary our guide gave each of us a small handful of sunflower seeds, and taught us how to hold our hands high up and stay still so that the chickadees would come and feed on the seeds. I attracted about 10 chickadees and it was really fun to watch them standing on my hand and carefully pick out the seed they desire. We continued on walking and the trip ended in 30 minutes. It's not very long, but the birds added more fun to it.