The Backyard Wildbird and Nature Store

Yellow-rumped Warbler: John Purves 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 March 22, 2009
"Rare bird alert-Common Redpoll"
Two Common Redpolls were seen at feeders in the 6900 block of Lancewood Avenue in Lantzville.

The Sunday Bird Walk went to Neck Point in Nanaimo.
The morning was cloudy with sunny periods. A brisk west wind kept us moving rather quickly (for birdwatchers!).
Highlights of the morning included the sighting of a Violet-green Swallow and an Anna's Hummingbird perched at the top of a fir tree at the beginning of the walk. We saw a feeding frenzy of a large flock of Gulls and eight Bald Eagles far offshore. Two Yellow-rumped Warblers were seen on the Alder Trees near the parking lot at the end of the walk.

Fifteen birders saw and heard the following forty species of birds:
Canada Goose, Pacific Loon, Pelagic Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Surf Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Buffhead, Harlequin Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Merganser, Hooded Merganser, Bald Eagle, Merlin, Black Oystercatcher, Mew Gull, Thayer's Gull, California Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Northern Flicker, Anna's Hummingbird, Winter Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet, California Quail, Common Raven, Northwestern Crow, Varied Thrush, American Robin, European Starling, Red-winged Blackbird, Violet-green Swallow, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Brown Creeper, Bushtits, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, House Finch, Pine Siskin and Dark-eyed Junco.

Saturday March 21:
A Peregrine Falcon was spotted along Cameo Drive in Gabriola Island.

A male Rufous Hummingbird was seen at feeders along Cross Road in Nanoose Bay.

A Peregrine Falcon was seen along Sun Valley Drive in Nanaimo.

A Red-tailed Hawk, a Greater Yellowlegs and a flock of fifty Violet-green Swallows were seen at the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.

Friday March 20:
A male Rufous Hummingbird was seen visiting feeders along Lancewood Avenue and along Winchelsea Place in Lantzville.

Thursday March 19:
A Rufous Hummingbird was spotted at a feeder on Gabriola Island.

A Rufous Hummingbird was seen at a feeder at Parklands Place in Lantzville.

Wednesday March 18:
A Rufous Hummingbird was spotted at feeders in the 2900 block of Thomas Street in Nanaimo.

A Varied Thrush was seen in a yard off Maple Bay Road in Duncan.

Tuesday March 17:
The Tuesday Bird Walk went to the Little Qualicum River Estuary in Qualicum Beach. The morning was clear and sunny with cloudy periods but the winds were calm. Seventeen birders saw and heard forty-eight species of birds.
At the meeting spot at the Community Park in Parksville Bay there were tens of thousands of Sea Ducks in a huge raft just past the gravel bar near Surfside R.V Park.
At the Viewing Tower in Qualicum Beach four Black Oystercatchers, one Black Turnstone and California, Mew, Glaucous-wing and Herring Gulls were roosting near shore. Further out we saw Greater Scaup, Harlequin Ducks, Surf Scoters, White-winged Scoters, Black Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, Buffleheads, Common Goldeneyes, Barrow's Goldeneyes, Red-breasted Mergansers and thousands of Gulls in very large rafts.
We spotted four Eurasian Wigeon, twenty Trumpeter Swans and large flocks of Gulls at the Little Qualicum River. Just as we were leaving four Brant Geese flew in.
Seventeen birders saw and heard the following forty-eight species of birds.
Canada Goose, Brant, Trumpeter Swan, Eurasian Wigeon, American Wigeon,
Mallard, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Greater Scaup, Harlequin Duck,
Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead,
Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Killdeer, Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstone, Mew Gull, Ring-billed Gull, California Gull,
Herring Gull, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Rock Pigeon, Belted Kingfisher,
Northern Flicker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, European Starling,
Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-winged Blackbird, Purple Finch, House Finch and Pine Siskin.

Two Varied Thrush were seen in a garden just north of the Little Qualicum River north of Qualicum Beach.

Sunday March 15:
A male Eurasian Green-winged Teal was spotted just off the beach near the parking lot at Cowichan Bay.

Varied Thrush were seen in north Nanaimo at the Applecross Apartments and just off Bay Street 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 March 23, 2009 @ 7:30 pm.
Speaker Ian Gartshaw, a passionate advocate of sustainable energy, will offer

practical, down-to-earth solutions.
Springwood School
Parksville
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The Nanoose Naturalists
Thursday April 09, 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 March 24, 2009 will be going to Parksville Bay in Parksville.
Meet at the Parksville Beach Community Park near the parking area at the Lion's
Playground at 9:00 A.M.
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The Sunday Bird Walk on March 29, 2009, will be going to the Shelly Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville.
Meet at the Bird Store at 9:00 A.M. or meet at the parking area at the end of Shelly Road ( on the oceanside of Highway 19a )at about 9:30 A.M.
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Good birding
Neil Robins
Nanaimo