Sharp-shinned Hawk: Ralph Hocken Photo.
Nanaimo Bird Alert
To report your sightings
phone the Store at 250-390-3669
e-mail us at thebackyard@shaw.ca
call the Bird Alert at 250-390-3029
Also check the birdstore blog for the latest bird alerts and updates:
www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com
Post your sightings on these site:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bcbirdingvanisland/messages
Bir
ds of British Columbia:
http://www.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/efauna/SpeciesChecklists.html
International Birdwatching Guides
http://www.guidedbirdwatching.com
Birdwatching contacts and information find a local birder to go birdwatching with:
ttp://www.birdingpal.org/
Please remember, when reporting a sighting, to leave your name and phone number, along with the date, name and location of your sighting.
Saturday January 17:
Evening Grosbeaks are visiting feeders along Wall Street near Bowen Park in Nanaimo.
An American Dipper was spotted along the Millstream River in Bowen Park, Nanaimo.
A male Anna's Hummingbird was spotted courting a female at the Biological Station along Hammond Bay Road in Nanaimo.
The male climbed straight up to a height of ~30-40 ft, then dove towards the brush below. While ascending, he made the familiar "zinc-zinc, zinc-zinc" call and at the bottom of his dive he make a single "ping" note, loud and clear (rather than the familiar "yabba-dabba-doo" the Rufous Hummingbird makes on his descent). He repeated this behavior a half dozen times before stopping to rest.
A Merlin, a Varied Thrush and three Spotted Towhees are visiting a yard along Broadway Road in Nanaimo.
Wednesday January 14:
Six Short-eared Owls were seen near the viewing tower at the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.
A Yellow Shafted Northern Flicker was spotted in Copley Park in upper Lantzville.
Tuesday January 13:
The Tuesday Bird Walks began for 2009 on January 13th and went to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River. Eleven birders saw and heard forty-seven species of birds. The sea was calm on an overcast January morning.
We started the morning at Parksville Bay where we saw a large raft of over one hundred Surf Scoters, two Western Gulls and two Thayer's Gulls.
On the trail along the Englishman River the highlights included a Brown Creeper working it's way up a tall fir tree, a Red-breasted Nuthatch calling and landing on a nearby tree, two Bald Eagles calling from the tall snags and a small flock of Golden-crowned Kinglets feeding on bushes low to the ground. There were Common Loons, Pacific Loons, Horned Grebes, Mew Gulls, Harlequin Ducks, Double-crested Cormorants and Pelagic Cormorants on the Strait of Georgia. We spotted a Anna's Hummingbird perched in a tree and a Sharp-shinned Hawk flew over us.
Eleven birders found the following forty-seven species of birds:
Canada Goose, Trumpeter Swan, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail,
Green-winged Teal, Harlequin Duck, Surf Scoter, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye,
Barrow's Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Pacific Loon,
Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant ,
Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Black-bellied Plover, Black Turnstone, Dunlin, Mew Gull, Thayer's Gull, Western Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull,
Anna's Hummingbird , Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Steller's Jay,
Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, House Finch and Pine Siskins.
Two Black-bellied Plovers, 220 Dunlin and several Black Turnstones were seen at Neck Point in Nanaimo.
Monday January 12:
A Barred Owl is visiting a back yard in the 1900 block of Carmel Place in the Departure Bay are of Nanaimo.
Sunday January 11:
A Ring-necked Pheasant was spotted in the Orchard Circle area of Nanaimo.
A Cooper's Hawk was seen in the 300 block of Milton Street in Nanaimo.
A Sharp-shinned Hawk is visiting a backyard in the 6000 block of Sunset Road in Nanaimo.
Varied Thrush, Spotted Towhees, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Dark-eyed Juncos, House Finches, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Steller's Jays, a Pileated Woodpecker, four Anna's Hummingbird were seen at feeders in upper Lantzville near the Foothills.
Saturday January 10:
Common Redpolls were seen along Aulds Road in north Nanaimo.
Three Northern Harriers were seen at the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.
Monday December 01:
A White-throated Sparrow was sighted along Shell Beach Road in Ladysmith.
For further information on these sightings or for help in identifying a
bird please call The Backyard Wildbird and Nature Store
@ (250) 390-3669
Toll Free @ 1-888-249-4145
e-mail: thebackyard@shaw.ca
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Arrowsmith Naturalists
Monday January 26, 2009 @ 7:30 pm.
Springwood School
Parksville
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The Nanoose Naturalists
Thursday February 12, 2009 @ 7:00 pm
Guess speaker Gary Kaiser will present a programme on the Marbled Murrelet.
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
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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 January 20, 2009 will be going to the Columbia Beach.
Meet at the Parksville Beach Community Park near the parking area at the Lion's
Playground at 9:00 A.M.
Or meet at Columbia Beach in the parking area off Admiral Tryon Blvd. ( from highway 19a turn onto Columbia Drive opposite Windsor Plywood, turn right at the tee intersection at Admiral Tryon Blvd. Go about 100 feet and turn left into the parking area.) at about 9:15 A.M.
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The Sunday Bird Walks will resume on February 01, 2009.
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Good birding
Neil Robins
Nanaimo
