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.

Tuesday 17 March 2015

Parksville/Qualicum Beach Tuesday bird walk, March 17, 2015

The Tuesday bird walk went to the Little Qualicum River Estuary in Qualicum Beach. The skies were cloudy and the water on the Strait of Georgia was calm.  The highlight was the sighting of two rafts of Surf Scoters, Long-tail Ducks, Lesser Scaup and Greater Scaup. The two rafts of seabirds stretched offshore from the viewing platform along highway 19a to the Little Qualicum River Estuary.   Over seventy Trumpeter Swans flew over and landed on the far side of the raft of seabirds. Bonaparte's Gulls, Herring Gulls, Ring-billed Gulls Mew Gulls, California Gulls, Thayer’s Gull and Glaucous-winged Gulls covered the gravel bars from the viewing platform and along the shore to the estuary. Three Eurasian Widgeon, a Herring Gull,a Ring-billed Gull, large numbers of Barrow’s Goldeneye and Common Goldeneye were seen from the estuary side offshore. Four Yellow-rumped Warblers were feeding near the parking area at the “A” frame house. We watched a Bewick’s Wren gathering nesting material close-by. 
                                                                                                  
                                                          Surf Scoter eating Mussels: Ralph Hocken Photo. 

 
                                                      Greater Scaup & Lesser Scaup: Ralph Hocken Photo.

Eleven birders saw and heard the following fifty–two species:
Trumpeter Swans
Brant
Canada Geese
Mallard
American Widgeon
Eurasian Widgeon
Harlequin Duck
Northern Shoveler
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Black Scoter
Long-tail Duck
Lesser Scaup
Greater Scaup
Bufflehead
Northern Pintail
Barrows Goldeneye
Common Goldeneye
Horned Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Red-breasted Merganser
Common Merganser
Common Loon
Pacific loon
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Killdeer
Black Oystercatcher
Bonaparte's Gull
Herring Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Mew Gull
California Gull
Thayer’s Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Northwestern Crow
Eurasian-collared Dove
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Bewick’s Wren
American Robin
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
House Finch
Purple Finch 

The Tuesday bird walk on March 24, 2015 will be going to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River in Parksville.
 

                                                                    Mew Gull: Ralph Hocken Photo. 

Good birding
Neil Robins
Parksville

1 comment:

Lenb said...

Looks like a really interesting list. We are moving to QB from the UK shortly and I am looking forward to joining you on your Tuesday bird walks. Len Bettam, lbettam@aol.com