Nanaimo bird alert

Long-billed Dowitchers: Ralph Hocken 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

Birdwatching contacts and information
find a local birder to go birdwatching with.
http://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.

Sunday, August 24, 2008:
The Sunday Bird Walk went to Holden Creek in the mud and rain. Among the highlights were the sighting of several flocks of Long-billed Dowitchers and Western and Least Sandpipers that were all spooked by a Peregrine Falcon. A Red-tailed Hawk flew over and disappeared into the low lying clouds.

Four hardy birders found the following nineteen species of birds:
Canada Goose, Common Mergangers, Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, Mallard, Great Blue Heron, Red-tailed Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, Barn Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, Killdeer, Least Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitchers, Common Raven, Brewer's Blackbird, European Starling, Song Sparrow and House Finch.

Saturday August 23:

Fifty Black Swifts, two Common Nighthawks and many Turkey Vultures were seen over Sooke.

Friday August 22:
" Rare Bird Alert-Manx Shearwater"
A Manx Shearwater was spotted close to shore at Port Renfrew. A little further off shore were large numbers of Sooty Shearwaters, an adult, light phase Long-tailed Jaeger, one Fork-tailed Storm-petrel, a few Red Phalaropes, a large flock of Red-necked Phalaropes, Common Murres, Rhinoceros Auklets, Pigeon Guillemots, Marbled Murrelets and three Brown Pelicans.

Thursday August 21:
Twenty-four Common Nighthawks, two Purple Martins, several Barn Swallows were seen over Sooke.

Over fifty Sooty Shearwaters were seen close to shore near Jordon River.

Wednesday August 20:
Four Purple Martins were seen above the 2500 block of Glenayr Drive in Nanaimo.

Over twenty Sooty Shearwaters, several Pink-footed Shearwaters, a Buller's Shearwater, hundreds of Red-necked Phalaropes, a light phase Pomarine Jaeger, big flocks of Northern Pintails, Green-winged Teal, Common Murres, Rhinoceros Auklets, a Cassin's Auklet and two Brown Pelicans were seen from Otter Point on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Tuesday August 19:
Over twenty Black Swifts, large flocks of Steller's Jays and large numbers of Turkey Vultures were seen flying down the west coast from Port Renfrew to Sooke.

Three Semipalmated Plovers were seen in with a mixed flock of Least, Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers on the mud flats at the Englishman River Estuary, Plummer Road side.

Monday August 18
" Rare Bird Alert- South Polar Skua"
Two South Polar Skuas were seen close to shore at Botanical Beach near Port Renfrew.

The South Polar Skua nest in the Antarctica. The juveniles undertake a regular migration into the north Pacific arriving off the coast of British Columbia in July and August.

" Rare Alert- Crested Caracara"
A Crested Caracara was photographed at Fort Fraser on the Yellowhead Highway, west of Prince George. The bird was following a farmer cutting hay on a field near Fort Fraser. The Crested Caracara was feeding on the mice being kicked up by the hay cutter. It was being mobbed by a flock of Common Ravens.
The Crested Caracara is normally found in Central America in open savanna or desert and feeds mainly on carrion it locates by patrolling at low altitude. The bird has not been observed in that area since, and so has obviously moved on. Keep an eye out for it in your area!

Several Steller's Jays were seen on Gabriolia Island.

Sunday August 17:
A Baird's Sandpiper, three Pectoral Sandpiper, three Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Killdeer, Western Sandpipers, Least Sandpiper, Semi-palmated Sandpiper and Dowitchers were seen at Holden Creek in Cedar. A Merlin and a Cooper's Hawk were seen in the same area.

Saturday August 16:

" Rare Bird Alert- Blue-winged Warbler"
A Blue-winged Warbler was sighted in Ucluelet. The bird was seen in an area behind Little Beach on the top of a tall Cedar Tree. It remained in the tree for several minutes. The Warbler had a blue-gray wings and a black eye line. The Blue-winged Warbler is usually found in the eastern United States, and in southern Ontario.

Ten Cedar Waxwings and two Common Nighthawks were seen in this same area at Ucluelet.

Friday August 15:
A Western Tanager was spotted in the 1700 block of Eglington Road in South Wellington.

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
***********************************
The Nanoose Naturalists
Monthly Meeting
Thursday September 11, 2008 @ 7:00 pm
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
**********************************
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.
*****************************************
The Sunday Bird Walk on August 31, 2008 will be going to Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo.
Meet at the Bird Store at 9:00 A.M. or at the parking area off Bowen Road at about 9:15 A.M.
***************************************
Good birding
Neil Robins
Nanaimo