Parksville/ Qualicum Beach Tuesday bird walk, April 28, 2009

Bald Eagles: Ralph Hocken Photo.

The Tuesday bird walk went to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. The morning was sunny with a stiff wind coming off the water. The highlights included the sighting of four Pacific Loons in breeding plumage and several flocks of Brant Geese. A single Surf Scoter and a Black Scoter flew by heading up the Strait of Georgia. We spotted a Glaucous Gull in strikingly white Spring plummage sitting on a far gravel bar. Over 100 Green-winged Teal, Least Sandpipers, Western Sandpipers and one Greater Yellowlegs were on the mud flats. Rufous Hummingbirds entertained us all morning with their courting dives. Orange-crowned Warblers perched and sang their song. Spring has arrived!!
Twenty-four birders saw and heard the following forty-nine species of birds:
Canada Goose
Brant
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Greater Scaup
Harlequin Duck
Surf Scoter
Black Scoter
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Bald Eagle
Cooper's Hawk
Killdeer
Black Oystercatcher
Greater Yellowlegs
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Mew Gull
California Gull
Thayer's Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Glaucous Gull
Band-tailed Pigeon
Rufous Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northwestern Crow
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Barn Swallow
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Winter Wren
American Robin
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Purple Finch
House Finch
Pine Siskin
House Sparrow