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 here by 8am the day of the walk. Our first bird walks of the year are going out on Sunday February 4th and Tuesday February 6th. Locations will be posted to our next Bird Report.

Sunday 29 March 2015

Nanaimo bird report, March 29, 2015


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.


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Sunday, March 29, 2015:
The Sunday bird walk went to Neck Point Park in Nanaimo. Light rain and strong winds off the wild Strait of Georgia greeted us as we started our walk.  Hooded Mergansers, Red-breasted Mergansers and Common Merganser were swimming in the well protected bay of Sunset Beach. The male Red-breasted Mergansers were doing their courting dance and royally entertained us. We heard and saw a Ruby-crowned Kinglet singing and feeding near the trail giving us great looks.  Over one hundred Harlequin Ducks were resting out of the wind on the big rocks near the shore. Two pair of Barrow’s Goldeneye were riding the high waves near shore. 

Harlequin Ducks: Ralph Hocken Photo. 

Nine birders saw and heard the following thirty-seven species:
Trumpeter Swan
Canada Geese
Mallard
  Bufflehead
Surf Scoter
Barrow’s Goldeneye
Harlequin Duck
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Common Merganser
Double-crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Black Oystercatcher
Bald Eagle
California Gull
Thayer’s Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Common Raven
Northwestern Crow
European Starling
American Robin
Hermit Thrush
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglet
 Anna’s Hummingbird
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Brown Creeper
Pacific Wren
Bewick's Wren
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Pine Siskin
 

Red-breasted Merganser: Ralph Hocken Photo. 

Tuesday, March 24:
The Tuesday bird walk went to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. The morning was mostly sunny and the Strait of George was as smooth as glass.  A Rufous Hummingbird caught our attention at the start of the walk--the first of many Rufous Hummingbirds that we saw on the walk. A Pacific Wren was singing as we started walking the trail.  Ruby-crowned Kinglets were singing their melodious song and feeding along the trail for most of the morning. Two Tree Swallows were flying low overhead.  Many flocks of Brant were flying up the Strait.  Hundreds of Pacific Loons were on the water far off shore. A Brandt’s Cormorant and a Pelagic Cormorant were swimming together off shore to give us a good comparison.        

 Eleven birders saw and heard the following fifty-seven species:
Canada Geese
Brant
American Wigeon
Eurasian Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Harlequin Duck
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Bufflehead
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Common Goldeneye
Barrow’s Goldeneye
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Common Murre
Red-necked Grebe
Horned Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Brandt’s Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Black Oystercatcher
Killdeer
Great Blue Heron
Belted Kingfisher
Bald Eagle
Mew Gull
California Gull
Thayer's Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Steller’s Jay
Northwestern Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Orange-crowned Warbler
Pacific Wren
Bewick’s Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Rufous Hummingbird
Anna’s Hummingbird
European Starling
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Red-wing Blackbird
Dark-eyed Junco
House Finch
Pine Siskin  

 Friday, March 20: 
Eight Black-Bellied Plover, over two hundred and fifty Dunlin and hundreds of Bufflehead, Northern Pintail and Brant Geese were seen offshore at Parksville Bay in Parksville. 

Two Greater White-fronted Geese and a juvenile Snow Goose were seen along the road at Parksville Bay beach. 

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Tofino-Shorebird –Festival
18th Annual May 1-3, 2015
For  information please contact---- 
http://raincoasteducation.org/events/tofino-shorebird-festival

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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. on 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 31 will be going to Columbia Beach.  Meet at the Parksville Community Park playground parking lot at 9 a.m. or at the parking area off Admiral Tryon Bld. at about  9:15 a.m.
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There will be no Sunday bird walk on Easter Sunday, March 05, 2015.

Happy Easter!!!

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The Sunday bird walk on Sunday, March 12 will be going to Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo.

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British Columbia Rare Bird Alert link---
http://www.bcbirdalert.blogspot.ca/

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A must read for those of us who live along the Strait of Georgia.

THE SEA AMONG US
THE AMAZING STRAIT OF GEORGIA
RICHARD BEAMISH AND GORDON McFARLANE
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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

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