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Tuesday, 23 February 2016

Parksville/Qualicum Beach Tuesday bird walk, February 23, 2016

The Tuesday bird walk went to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River in Parksville. The morning was sunny and the Strait of Georgia was calm. Two pair of Gadwall were on the river as the walk started. Many Green-winged Teal and Northern Pintail were resting on the mud flats. A large flock of migrating Canada Geese with one Cackling Goose flew over head eventually landing on the far side of the estuary. California Gulls, Mew Gulls, Thayer’s Gulls, one Western Gull and a large number of Glaucous-winged Gulls were resting on gravel bars along the estuary.  Barrow’s Goldeneye, American Wigeon and an Eurasian Wigeon were feeding along the side of a gravel bar not far from shore. Twenty Long-tailed Ducks and Surf Scoters were seen swimming further from shore. We saw hundreds of Brant Geese on the strait swimming and flying during the morning. We spotted three large flocks of Bushtits feeding on big Scotch broom bushes along the road.
 

Bushtit: Ralph Hocken Photo.
 
 

Twenty-three birders, including visiting birders from Edmonton, Winnipeg and Seattle saw and heard the following fifty-eight species:
Brant
Cackling Geese
Canada Geese
 Mallard
Gadwall
Bufflehead
Green-winged Teal
Greater Scaup
Northern Pintail
American Wigeon
Eurasian Wigeon
  Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Common Goldeneye
Barrow’s Goldeneye
Red-necked Grebe
Horned Grebe
Western Grebe
Common Merganser
 Red-breasted Merganser
Long-tailed Duck
 Pacific Loon
 Common Loon
 Double-crested Cormorant
 Pelagic Cormorant
Brant’s Cormorant
Common Murre
Great Blue Heron
Belted Kingfisher
California Gull
 Mew Gull
Thayer’s Gull
Western Gull
 Glaucous-winged Gull
Black Oystercatcher
Bald Eagle
Steller’s Jay
 Common Raven
 Northwestern Crow
Northern Flicker
Anna’s Hummingbird
Bushtit
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
 Golden-crowned Kinglet
 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hutton's Vireo
European Starling
Red-wing Blackbird
American Robin
 Spotted Towhee
House Finch
Purple Finch
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Red Crossbill
Dark-eyed Junco
Pine Siskin   
 
 

 
California Gull: Ralph Hocken Photo.

The Tuesday bird walk on March 01, 2016 will be going to the Little Qualicum River Estuary in Qualicum Beach. Meet at Parksville Community Park at the Lions Club Kids Playground Parking lot at 9:00 a.m. or at the Brant viewing platform in north Qualicum Beach at about 9:15 a.m.

Good birding
Neil Robins
Parksville



 

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