NANAIMO BIRD ALERT, February 22, 2009

Brant Geese in flight: Ralph Hocken Photo.

The Backyard Wildbird & Nature Store
Nanaimo Bird Alert

To report your sightings
phone the Store at 250-390-3669
e-mail us at thebackyard@shaw.ca
call the Bird Alert at 250-390-3029

Also check the birdstore blog for the latest bird alerts and updates:
www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com

Post your sightings on this site:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bcbirdingvanisland/messages

Birds of British Columbia:
http://www.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/efauna/SpeciesChecklists.html

International Birdwatching Guides
http://www.guidedbirdwatching.com

Birdwatching contacts and information find a local birder to go birdwatching with:
http://www.birdingpal.org/

Please remember, when reporting a sighting, to leave your name and phone number, along with the date, name and location of your sighting.

Sunday February 22, 2009
The Sunday bird walk went to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River in
Parksville. Among the highlights was the sighting of a Peregrine Falcon perched on a stump for the whole morning and four flocks of Brant Geese flying low over the water. We saw many flocks of Common Murre, Surf Scoters and White-winged Scoters heading down the Strait of Georgia. Rafts of Red-breasted Mergangers, along with Pacific Loons and Common Loons, were spotted not far off shore.
Twenty-two rain soaked birders saw and heard the following forty-eight species of birds:
Canada Goose, Brant Geese, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Bufflehead, Greater Scaup, Harlequin Duck, Long-tailed Duck, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Merganser, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Common Murre, Bald Eagle, Cooper's Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, Killdeer, Black Turnstone, Glaucous-winged Gull, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Steller's Jay, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, Varied Thrush, European Starling, Spotted Towhee, Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Purple Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, Pine Siskin and House Finch.

Saturday February 21:
A Cinnamon Teal and a Snow Goose were seen at Somanos Marsh in Duncan.

Friday February 20:
A large flock of Cedar Waxwings were spotted at Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo.
One Herring Gull, three Western Gulls, one Glaucous Gull. several Thayer's Gulls and about three hundred Glaucous-winged Gulls were seen at the Parksville Community Park at Parksville Bay.

Thursday February 19:
"Rare bird alert-Northern Hawk Owl"
The Northern Hawk Owl was seen today along Morden Road in south Nanaimo.

Tuesday February 17:
Three Turkey Vultures were seen riding the thermals over Copley Ridge in Upper Lantzville.

The Tuesday Bird Walk went to Deep Bay.
Sixteen birders saw and heard forty-six species of birds. It was an ideal day for birding. The skies were sunny and the wind was calm. The highlight of the morning was the sighting of twelve Long-tailed Ducks within ten feet of the shore at the point. There were other Long-tailed Ducks out further on the water but the ones near shore were a spectacular sight. Not far off shore Black Scoters were singing their song. Large rafts of Surf Scoters, White-winged Scoters, Horned Grebes, Red-necked Grebes, Harlequin Ducks and Common and Pacific Loons were seen further out from shore. A lone Western Grebe was spotted through our scopes not far from Denman Island. On shore we saw a
Hutton's Vireo hawking insects from a snag. Ten Golden-crowned Sparrows were spotted feeding on the ground near a short bush. Large flocks of singing House Finches kept us entertained throughout the morning. We spotted a Cooper's Hawk perched high up in a large bush. Two Bald Eagles spent the morning looking over the Bay from high atop a Fir Tree. On the way back to Parksville, we spotted two Pigeon Guillemots at Nile Creek.
Sixteen birders saw and heard the following forty-six species of birds:
Canada Goose, Eurasian Wigeon, American Wigeon, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup,
Harlequin Duck, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Long-tailed Duck,
Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser,
Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Western Grebe,
Brandt's Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Cooper's Hawk, Black-bellied Plover, Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstone, Mew Gull, California Gull, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Pigeon Guillemot, Rock Pigeon, Hutton's Vireo, Northwestern Crow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, American Robin, European Starling, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, House Finch, Pine Siskin and House Sparrow.

A Ring-necked Pheasant was seen in a yard in the Eaglecrest area of Qualicum Beach.

A Townsend Warbler was seen in bushes and Brant Geese were seen on the water near Beach Club Resort in Parksville.

Monday February 16:
Cooper's Hawk, an Evening Grosbeak, Pine Siskins, a Pileated Woodpecker and Song Sparrows are visiting a backyard along Doehle Avenue in Parksville.

Sunday February 15:
A Pine Grosbeak was feeding on berries on a Arbutus tree in the 900 block of Nanaimo River Road in Nanaimo.

For further information on these sightings or for help in identifying a
bird please call The Backyard Wildbird and Nature Store
@ (250) 390-3669
Toll Free @ 1-888-249-4145
e-mail: thebackyard@shaw.ca
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Arrowsmith Naturalists
Monday February 23, 2009 @ 7:30 pm.
Guest Speaker Pamela Wesley will speak about the invasive plant situation on the Island.
Springwood School
Parksville
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The Nanoose Naturalists
Thursday March 12, 2009 @ 7:00 pm
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
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Everyone is welcome to join us for a 2-3 hour bird walk on the Sunday and
Tuesday mornings. We leave from the Store at 9 A.M. Sunday Mornings and go
to a different location in and around Nanaimo and from the Parksville Beach
Community Park at 9 A.M. on Tuesdays and go to different areas in and around
the Oceanside area.
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The Tuesday Bird Walk on February 24 , 2009 will be going to Columbia Beach.
Meet at the Parksville Beach Community Park near the parking area at the Lion's
Playground at 9:00 A.M. Or meet at the parking area off Admiral Tylon Boulevard ( Turn onto Columbia Drive off highway 19a go to Admiral Tylon Boulevard turn right and go about 100 meters and turn left onto a parking area near the ocean) at about 9:15A.M.
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The Sunday Bird Walk on March 01, 2009, will be going to Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo. Meet at the Bird Store at 9:00 A.M. or meet at the Butterubs parking area off Bowen Road at about 9:15 A.M.
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Good birding
Neil Robins
Nanaimo