The Backyard's Weekly Bird Walk locations are found in the Backyard Bird Report at the very end of the most recent report. Any cancellations will be posted by 8am the day of the walk.

Monday 3 August 2009

Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, Bird alert, August 02/09





Least Sandpiper: 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:
htt

p://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 to 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 August 02, 2009:
The Sunday Bird Walk went to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River in Parksville. The morning was sunny with a bit of wind to make it quite comfortable.
the shorebirds are making their way back and the highlights included seeing Sanderling, Killdeer, Least Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper and a Long-billed Dowitcher probing the mud flats for their food. We watched a Willow Flycatcher hawking insects. We saw three Common Loons, Surf Scoters, a White-winged Scoter, a Greater Scaup, and a Black-bellied Plover fly low over the Strait of Georgia.
Sixteen birders heard and saw the following forty species of birds.
Canada Goose, Common Loon, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Greater Scaup, Common Merganser, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Turkey Vulture, Killdeer, Sanderling, Least Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Black-bellied Plover, Long-billed Dowitcher, California Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Mew Gull, Belted Kingfisher, Rufous Hummingbird,Rock Pigeon, Northern Flicker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bushtit, Bewick's Wren, Willow Flycatcher, Cedar Waxwing, American Robin, Swainson's Thrush, European Starling, Spotted Towhee, White-crowned Sparrow, Red Crossbill, House Finch, Purple Finch and American Goldfinch.

Tuesday July 28:
A Merlin perched for a long period of time on a fence in the Joanna Terrace area near Diver Lake in Nanaimo.

Monday July 27:
A Wandering Tattler was seen at the mouth of French Creek. It left after a few minutes heading east towards Parksville.

Six Common Nighthawks were seen flying over Meridian Way in Parksville.

Sunday July 26:
Twenty-three Common Nighthawks were seen overhead hawking insects as they flew in a west direction over Stanford Avenue in Parksville.

Twenty-five Bonaparte's Gulls in breeding plumage, six Mew Gulls, twenty Black Turnstones and twenty Surf Scoters were seen at the gravel bar at Pebble Beach on Columbia Beach.

A Merlin was spotted chasing Dragonflies at McGregor Marsh in north Nanaimo.

Saturday July 25:
Fourteen Common Nighthawks flew over a house in the 2800 block of Kilpatrick Road, off Jinglepot 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
**********************************
The Nanoose Naturalists
Thursday September 10, 2009 @ 7:00 pm
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
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Arrowsmith Naturalists
Monday September 28, 2009 @ 7:30 pm.
Springwood School
Parksville
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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 Backyard Wildbird & Nature Store's weekly bird walk in the Parksville/Qualicum Beach area on Tuesday mornings will not be held during the summer months. We will resume the Tuesday bird walks on September 01, 2009.
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The Sunday Bird Walk on August 09 will be going to Beck Creek in south Nanaimo.
Meet at the Bird store at 9:00 a.m. or at the parking area near the entrance to the Living Forest Campground on Maki Road (across from Southgate Mall) at about 9:20 a.m.

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Good birding
Neil Robins
Nanaimo
British Columbia

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