The Backyard Wildbird and Nature
Store
Nanaimo
Bird Report
August
25, 2019
“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 was seen and location of your sighting.
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Sunday August 25:
Today the Sunday Bird Walk went to Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo. The weather was sunny with a steady breeze. To start the walk we were entertained by 3 Merlin’s flying about over the marsh along with a Turkey Vulture in the distance. A few highlights from the walk include, Willow Flycatcher, Steller’s Jay, Cassin’s Vireo and lots of Purple Martins. Our parking lot bird at the end of the walk was the Red-tailed Hawk soaring above us.
Thirteen birders saw and heard the following twenty seven (27) species:
Wood Duck
Mallard
Pied-billed Grebe
Red-tailed Hawk
Turkey Vulture
Merlin
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Anna’s Hummingbird
Northern Flicker
Willow Flycatcher
Cassin’s Vireo
Northwestern Crow
Common Raven
Steller’s Jay
Purple Martin
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Marsh Wren
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Western Tanager
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
House Finch
Purple Finch
House Sparrow
Steller’s Jay, photo by John Morrison
Tuesday August 20:
The Tuesday Bird Walk
went to the Plummer road side of the Englishman River Estuary. The morning was
sunny and the winds were light. A few highlights from the walk were a
Ring-billed Gull, Long-bill Dowitcher, and Cedar Waxwings. There was not much
on the strait except for a Pigeon Guillemot, Common Murre, Marbled Murrelet and
Surf Scoter.
Sixteen birders
including birders from Alberta, Vermont and Switzerland, saw and heard the
following thirty nine (39) species:
Mallard
Green-winged Teal
Common Merganser
Northern Pintail
Surf Scoter
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Turkey Vulture
Merlin
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Black Oystercatcher
Lesser Yellowlegs
Greater Yellowlegs
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
California Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Pigeon Guillemot
Common Murre
Marbled Murrelet
Belted Kingfisher
Anna’s Hummingbird
Pacific-sloped
Flycatcher
Hammond’s Flycatcher
Northwestern Crow
Chestnut-backed
Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Bushtit
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
Orange-crowned Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
House Finch
Purple Finch
American Goldfinch
Green-winged
Teal, photo by Ralph Hocken.
Monday August 19:
A Yellow-billed Loon was seen off the mouth of the Little Qualicum River.
Backyard Feeder Notes:
The woodpeckers are back at my suet feeders in mass. The other day there were six Northern Flickers on the feeders and then the Downy woodpeckers arrived. It s always fun to watch the juvenile feeding by itself until an adult arrives and then begins to beg to be fed, I call these teenagers.
Chickadee, Bushtits and nuthatches are still busy at the feeders and are beginning to cache seed away for the winter. Peanut halves and black oil sunflower seed are a favorite for caching.
In some parts of Ladysmith we have had reports of Steller’s Jays visiting backyard feeders. They will also be caching seed away for winter and their favorites are sunflower seeds and peanuts in the shell.
This can be a fun time to watch the birds at the backyard feeders, as all the juveniles are out and about and some birds are beginning to migrate south while others are returning to winter here. It can be a busy and interesting time to watch the birds in your backyard.
Flock of Bushtits on a suet feeder, photo Google images
Please Note:
Check this site (www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com) early Tuesday and Sunday on stormy mornings to see if the walks have been cancelled!
The Tuesday Bird Walk August 27, 2019:
Will be going to Little Qualicum River Estuary. Meet at the Parksville Community Park (near the Lions Club playground parking area) in Parksville at 9:00 am or at the north parking area on Surfside drive off of Kinkade road in Qualicum Beach, at 9:20 a.m.
The Sunday Bird Walk:
There will be no Bird Walk this Sunday September 1st long weekend.
Good birding!
Colin Bartlett
The Backyard
Wildbird and Nature Store
6314 Metral Drive V9T-2L8
Phone: 250-390-3669
Email: thebackyard@shaw.ca
Blog: www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com
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