Semipalmated Plover: Ralph Hocken Photo.
NANAIMO BIRD REPORT
“GO BIRDING--EXPLORE NATURE”
Please remember, when reporting a sighting to leave your name and phone number along with the date, the species and location of your sighting.
To report your sightings phone the Store at 250-390-3669 or e-mail us at thebackyard@shaw.ca
Sunday September 04, 2011:
The Sunday bird walk went to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. The morning was sunny and warm. We saw a Baird’s Sandpiper, and three Semipalmated Plover’s on the mudflats as the tide was coming in. Several Willow Flycatchers were fly catching as we looked over the bushes throughout the morning. A Bonaparte’s Gull, three Common Loons and two Red-necked Grebes were on the Strait of Georgia.
Seventeen birders saw and heard the following forty-one species of birds:
Canada Goose, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Gadwall, Common Merganser, Great Blue Heron, Common Loon, Red-necked Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Merlin, Killdeer, Least Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Baird’s Sandpiper, Semipalmated Plover, Bonaparte’s Gull, California Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Band-tailed Pigeon, Anna's Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Willow Flycatcher, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick's Wren, American Robin, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Common Yellowthroat, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Purple Finch, House Finch and American Goldfinch.
Monday August 29:
The Early birders went to the newly opened Moorecroft Regional District Park in Nanoose Bay. The morning was sunny and warm with a breeze off the Strait of Georgia. We saw and heard several Brown Creepers throughout the morning. A flock of Ruby-crowned Kinglets as well as a Hutton's Vireo entertained us as they moved through the bushes not far from us. We watched a Warbling Vireo, Downy Woodpeckers and Hairy Woodpecker feeding on bushes at the Beaver Pond.
Nine birders saw and heard the following twenty-eight species of birds:
Canada Geese, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Bonaparte's Gull, Mew Gull, California Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Eurasian Collared Dove, Barred Owl, Belted Kingfisher, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Hutton's Vireo, Warbling Vireo,
Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Bewick's Wren, Pacific Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, European Starling and Red Crossbill.
A male Pileated Woodpecker was seen feeding at a backyard suet feeder in the Departure Bay/Rock City area of Nanaimo.
Sunday August 28:
Twenty to thirty Horned Grebes were seen on the Strait of Georgia at Qualicum Bay.
Forty-one Common Nighthawks and two Eurasian Collared Doves were seen over the Paradise Mini Golf course in Parksville.
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Nanoose Naturalists Meeting
September 8 at 7 P.M.
The Library Centre on Northwest Bay Road, Nanoose Bay.
Guest speaker -Tim Clemont
Topic--Restoration of the Englishman River Estuary
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Everyone is invited 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 September 06 will be going to the Shelly Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. We will meet at Parksville Community Park at the parking lot near the Lions Playground at 9:00 A.M. or at the end of Shelly Road (the ocean side of Shelly Road off Highway 19a) at about 9:10 A.M.
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The Sunday Bird Walk on September 11 will be going to Moorecroft Regional District Park in Nanoose Bay. We will meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 A.M. or at the parking area at Moorecroft Regional District Park that is at the end of Stewart Road, off Northwest Bay Road in Nanoose Bay, at about 9:30 A.M.
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Good birding
Neil Robins
THE BACKYARD Wildbird & Nature Store
6314 Metral Drive, Nanaimo, BC V9T 2L8
250-390-3669
thebackyard@shaw.ca
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG---> www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com
“Pelagic birding trip in September”
WildResearch, a Vancouver base non-profit, is pleased to be offering a pelagic birding trip departing from Ucluelet on the Sunday the 18th September 2011. The ship we will be using is the M.V. Frances Barkley, a 39m (128ft), 300 ton coastal freighter. The cost per person is $200 for WildResearch members.
For details visit: www.wildresearch.ca
