Nanaimo bird report, November 17, 2013

NANAIMO BIRD REPORT
" EXPLORE NATURE-GO BIRDING"

To report your sightings phone the Store at 250-390-3669 or e-mail us at
thebackyard@shaw.ca.. Please remember, when
reporting a sighting, to leave your name and phone number along with the
date, the species and location of your sighting.

Sunday, November 17, 2013: 

The Sunday bird walk went to the Shelly Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville.. The morning was partly clear and calm wind seas.  We spotted a Peregrine Falcon perched in its usual perch for most of the morning. A large flock of Canada Geese with two Snow Geese flew over us and landed near the mud flats.

 

Peregrine Falcon: Ralph Hocken Photo.

 

Twenty birders saw and heard the following fifty-one species:

Snow Geese, Canada Geese, Trumpeter Swan, American Widgeon, Eurasian Widgeon, Mallard, Harlequin Duck, Northern Pintail, Green-wing Teal, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Loon, Pacific Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Killdeer,  Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Belted Kingfisher, Mew Gull, California Gull, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Anna's Hummingbird, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker,  Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, American Robin, Western Meadowlark, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick's Wren, Pacific Wren, Bushtit, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, European Starling, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Brewer’s Blackbird and House Finch. 

 

A Canvasback duck was spotted in with a large flock of Hooded Mergansers at Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo.

 

Saturday, November 09:
A pair of Ruddy Ducks, a Greater White-fronted Goose, and seventy Trumpeter Swans were seen at Quennel Lake in Cedar.

 

Three American Black Canada Geese, Greater White-fronted Geese, four Cackling geese and a Red-tailed Hawk were seen near Doole Road  in Cedar.

 

Four Northern Shrike and two Wilson’s Snipe were seen at the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.  

Wednesday, November 13:

A Northern Waterthrush was seen at edge of the pond near the parking lot at Neck Point Park in Nanaimo. 

Tuesday, November 12: 

The Tuesday bird walk went to Rathtrevor Provincial Park in Parksville. The morning was windy and cloudy with sunny periods and a light shower during the morning. A large flock of Dunlin and Black-bellied Plovers were feeding along the tide line when we arrived at low tide. We saw many Pacific Loons, Common Loons, Horned Grebes and Red-necked Grebes on the choppy Strait of Georgia. Several flocks of American Wigeon, Mallard and Common Goldeneye flew down the Strait. We had great close views of several Golden-crowned Kinglets and Ruby-crowned Kinglets on the walk through the forest.

                                                                                   

                   

      Common Goldeneye: Ralph Hocken Photo.

                                                                                                                        

Twelve birders saw and heard the following forty-four species:

American Wigeon, Mallard, Harlequin Duck, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Western Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Bald Eagle, Bonaparte's Gull, Mew Gull, Thayer’s Gull,

California Gull, Herring Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Common Murre, Dunlin, Black-bellied Plover, Northern Flicker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Anna’s Hummingbird, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Pacific Wren, Bewick’s Wren, Brown Creeper, Spotted Towhee, Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Purple Finch,House Finch, Golden-crowned Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco.

 

“Rare bird alert-Brown Booby”

A Brown Booby was seen on a fishing boat three miles off Ucluelet on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

A Greater White-fronted Goose, a Cackling Goose, a Long-tailed Duck and three Townsend's Warblers were seen at Brannen Lake in Nanaimo.

 

One male and one female Redhead ducks were seen at Diver Lake in Nanaimo.
 

Four Townsend's Warblers were spotted at Bowen Lake in Nanaimo.

An Orange-crowned Warbler was seen along the Maki Road trails near Beck Creek in south Nanaimo.

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Monday, November 25:

Arrowsmith Naturalists meet at 7.30 pm at Knox United Church in Parksville.  Topic - ‘In Stream Fish Habitat – Restoration Works’-- Speaker Sean Wong, biologist with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.

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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 November 19 will be going to the Little Qualicum River Estuary in Qualicum Beach. Meet at the Parksville Community Park at the parking lot near the Lions Club playground at 9:00 am or at the viewing platform off highway 19a in north Qualicum Beach at about 9:20 am.

 

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The Sunday Bird Walk on November 25 will be going to Neck Point Park in Nanaimo. Meet at the birdstore at 9:00 am or at the parking lot at Neck Point off Hammond Bay Road at about 9:15 am.
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British Columbia rare bird alert link---
 http://www.bcbirdalert.blogspot.ca/  
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WildResearch link---
http://www.wildresearch.ca/

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The 2013 data report for the banding project at Buttertubs West Marsh is available at the following link:
http://web.viu.ca/demerse/birds/VIU_Banding_Report_2013.pdf

The report highlights songbird and owl banding, swallow nest box monitoring, volunteer effort and training, and public demonstrations and education.

Let me know if you have any questions, or would like to find out more about our results.

Thanks again to everyone.
Enjoy!
Eric Demers
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Good birding
Neil Robins

THE BACKYARD WILDBIRD & NATURE STORE
6314 Metral Drive
Nanaimo B.C.
V9T-2L8
Phone: 250-390-3669 
Fax: 250-390-1633
Email:  thebackyard@shaw.ca
Blog:  www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com

 

THE BACKYARD WILDBIRD & NATURE STORE

6314 Metral Drive

Nanaimo B.C.

V9T-2L8

Phone: 250-390-3669

Fax: 250-390-1633

Email: thebackyard@shaw.ca

Blog: www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com