Nanaimo bird alert

Common Nighthawk: Ryan Cathers Photo.

The Backyard Wildbird & Nature Store
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

Birds of British Columbia:
http://www.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/efauna/SpeciesChecklists.html

International Birdwatching Guides
http://www.guidedbirdwatching.com

Please remember, when reporting a sighting, to leave your name and phone
number, along with the date, name and location of your sighting.

Sunday, July 27:
The Sunday Bird Walk went to Ladysmith Harbour in Ladysmith.

Among the highlights was the sighting of a Osprey flying over the harbor with a fish in it's talons . We saw four Pigeon Guillemots on the water. Four Barn Swallow chicks were lined up on a yacht in the harbor and were being feed by the parent every five minutes or so. We saw most of the recorded sixty-seven pairs of Purple Martins as they swooped down to their nest boxes. We were fascinated by two Black Oystercatchers mobbing a Bald Eagle.

Fourteen birders found the following thirty-one species of birds:
Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Pigeon Guillemot, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Osprey, Black Oystercatcher, Glaucous-winged Gull, California Gull, Rock Pigeon, Belted Kingfisher, Rufous Hummingbird, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Purple Martin, Barn Swallow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bewick's Wren, Cedar Waxwing, American Robin, European Starling, Orange-crowned Warbler, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, House Finch, Pine Siskin and American Goldfinch.

Saturday, July 26:
"Rare Bird Alert-Northern Parula"
A Northern Parula, along with a flock of Bushtits, Townsend's Warblers, Orange-crowned Warblers, Wilson's Warblers Yellow Warblers, Pacific-slope Flycatchers, Warbling Vireos and a flock of eight White-winged Crossbills were seen in Shirley on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Hundreds of California and Heermann's Gulls and a Caspian Tern were seen at Jordon River on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

"Rare Bird Alert- Indigo Bunting"
An Indigo Bunting was relocated today along Coldwater Farm Lane off Renz Road in Parksville.

Friday, July 25:
"Rare Bird Alert-Indigo Bunting"
The Indigo Bunting was relocated today by several birders along the Coldwater Farm Lane off Renz Road in Parksville. The bird is an adult male with some noticeable feather wear on the wings. The bird was singing while moving back and forth from the decidous trees on the right side of the path and the shrubby field on the left.

About sixty Common Nighthawks were seen flying low over Long Lake in Nanaimo.

A large group of Common Nighthawks were seen flying high over Nanaimo North Town Center in north Nanaimo.

A family of Peregrine Falcons were seen over Brannen Lake in Nanaimo.

Thursday, July 24:
"Rare Bird Alert-Indigo Bunting"
A male Indigo Bunting was seen on the Coldwater Farm Lane off Renz Road in Parksville.

As many as twelve Merlins were seen and heard chasing birds in the area around Cedar Road near Quennell Road in Cedar.

Male and female Vesper Sparrows were seen and heard at the Cassiday Airport in south Nanaimo.

A flock of thirteen Common Nighthawks were seen heading straight west over Craig Street near the new Care Campus in Parksville.

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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The Nanoose Naturalists
Monthly Meeting
Thursday September 11, 2008 @ 7:00 pm
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
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Arrowsmith Naturalists
Annual Picnic--July 28, 2008.
Monthly Meeting,
Monday September 22, 2008@ 7:30 pm.
Springwood School
Parksville
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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 Backyard Wildbird & Nature Store's weekly bird walk in the Parksville/Qualicum Beach area on Wednesday mornings will not be held during the summer months. We will resume the Wednesday bird walks in
the fall.
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The Sunday Bird Walk on August 03, 2008 will be going to Neck Point in Nanaimo.

Meet at the Bird Store at 9:00 A.M. or at the parking lot at Neck Point Park off Hammond Bay Road at about 9:20 A.M.

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Good birding
Neil Robins
Nanaimo
British Columbia