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 by 8am the day of the walk.

Sunday 16 March 2008

NANAIMO BIRD ALERT, MARCH 16, 2008

Brandt's Cormorant: Ralph Hocken Photo

To report your sightings
please phone the Store at 390-3669
or e-mail us at
thebackyard@shaw.ca
or call the Bird Alert at 390-3029
Check out the birdstore blog.
www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com
International Birdwatching Guides
http://www.guidedbirdwatching.com

Please remember, when reporting a sighting, to leave your name and phone
number, along with the date and location of your sighting.
Sunday March 16:
Violet-green Swallows were seen over Diver Lake in Nanaimo.
Twenty Trumpeter Swans were seen in the near fields of the Ugly Dwarf Meadows in Nanoose Bay.
The Sunday Bird Walk went to Neck Point Park in Nanaimo. Twenty-four birders found the following fifty-four species: Canada Goose, Greater White-fronted Goose, Red-throated Loon, Common Loon, Pacific Loon, Brandt's, Pelagic and Double-crested Cormorants, Mallard, Surf Black and White-winged Scoters, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Harlequin Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Merganser, Common Murre, Pigeon Guillemot, Bald Eagle, Dunlin, Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstone, Mew Gull, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Anna's Hummingbird, Winter Wren, Bewick's Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Rock Pigeon, California Quail, Silver Pheasant,Common Raven, Northwestern
Crow, Varied Thrush, American Robin, European Starling, Red-winged Blackbird, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, House Finch, Purple Finch, Red Crossbill and Pine Siskin.
Saturday March 15:
A Northern Elephant Seal was spotted off Neck Point in Nanaimo,
Two Greater Yellowlegs and a pair of Wood Ducks were seen at French Creek.
Friday March 14:
Large rafts of seabirds including Brandt Geese, Bufflehead, Surf, White-winged and Black
Scoters, Pelagic, Double-crested and Brandt's Cormorant, sixty Bald Eagles and thousands of Gulls were seen off Boat Harbour south of Cedar.
Thursday March 13:
Two Canvasback Ducks were seen on Quamichan Lake in Duncan.
Wednesday March 12:
A Western Screech Owl was heard calling near the main marsh at McGregor
Marsh in north Nanaimo.
Yellow-rumped Warblers, Marsh Wrens, Tree Swallows and a Turkey Vulture were seen at Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo.

The Wednesday Bird Walk went to the Little Qualicum River Estuary in Qualicum
Beach. Eleven birders found fifty-one species of birds. There were huge rafts of thousands of sea ducks, including Brant Geese, Greater Scaup, Harlequin Duck, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Pacific Loon and Common Loon off the Viewing Tower in Qualicum Beach. Another great highlight of the morning was the sighting of approximately two hundred Violet-green Swallows and Tree Swallows hawking insects just above the Little Qualicum River. A true sign that spring is just around the corner.
Eleven birders found the following fifty-one species:
Canada Goose, Brant, Trumpeter Swan, Eurasian Wigeon, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Greater Scaup, Harlequin Duck, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Red-breasted
Merganser, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Brandt's Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Merlin, Killdeer, Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstone, Bonaparte's Gull, Mew Gull, Ring-billed Gull, California Gull, Herring Gull, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Belted Kingfisher, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Tree Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, American Robin, European Starling, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird and Purple Finch.
Tuesday March 11:
Rufous Hummingbird are coming to feeders along Forest Crescent in Nanaimo and the Yellowpoint area of Cedar.
Barn Owls were seen in the Yelllowpoint area of Cedar.
Monday March 10:
One Evening Grosbeak was seen in with a flock of Pine Siskins in the woods near
the Coombs Country Market in Coombs.
Several Trumpeter Swans were seen flying over Parksville.
Sunday March 09:
A male Rufous Hummingbird was visiting feeders along Walton Heath Place in
Nanaimo.
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
Monthly Meeting,
Monday March 31, 2008@ 7:30 pm.
Springwood School
Parksville
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The Nanoose Naturalists
Monthly Meeting
Thursday April 10, 2008 @ 7:00 pm
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
Wednesday 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 Visitor Centre in Parksville at 9 A.M. Wednesdays and go to different areas in and around the Oceanside area.
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The Wednesday Bird Walk on March 12, 2008 will be going to Columbia Beach We will meet at the Parksville Visitor Centre at Highway 19A and Northwest Bay Road, near Craig Bay in Parksville, at 9:00 A.M.
or at the parking area on Admiral Tyron Boulevard off Columbia Drive in French Creek at about 9:20 A.M.
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There will be no Sunday Bird Walk on March 23, 2008. Happy Easter.
The Sunday bird walks will resume on March 30.
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Good Birding!
Neil Robins
Nanaimo

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