NANAIMO BIRD ALERT

American Pipit: 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, September 14, 2008:
The Sunday Bird Walk went to Neck Point Park in Nanaimo. Among the highlights were the sightings of Osprey, Anna's Hummingbird, American Pipit, Black Oystercatcher and Black Turnstone.

Nineteen birders found the following thirty-one species of birds:
Common Loon, Pelagic Cormorant, Canada Goose, Osprey, Turkey Vultures, Great Blue Heron, Black Turnstone, Black Oystercatcher, Glaucous-winged Gull, California Gull, Anna's Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Steller's Jay, American Pipit, Orange-crowned Warbler, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Bewick's Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Band-tailed Pigeon, American Robin, European Starling, Song Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, House Finch and Pine Siskin.

Saturday September 13:

A Prairie Falcon, three Broad-winged Hawks and a Swainson's Hawk were seen near the East Sooke Regional Park.

Friday September 12:
An American Pipit was seen along Colbourne Drive in Nanaimo.

Yellow Warblers and one Palm Warbler were seen at Jordan River.

Thursday September 11:

American Wigeon , Mallard, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Common Merganser, Common Loon, Pacific Loon, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron,

Osprey, Merlin, Killdeer, Western Sandpiper, California Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Band-tailed Pigeon,

Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Steller's Jay, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, American Robin, European Starling, American Pipit, Spotted Towhee,

Song Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, Purple Finch, House Finch and Pine Siskin were seen at the Englishman River Estuary, Plummer Road side in Parksville.

Eight Broad-winged Hawks, a Swainson's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawks, many Turkey Vultures and a Parasitic Jaeger was seen chasing California Gulls over Sooke.

Wednesday September 10:
Five Lapland Longspurs, one Osprey, eight Killdeer, two Semipalmated Plovers and fifteen Western Sandpipers were seen at the mud flats at the Englishman River Estuary, Plummer Road side.

Over one hundred Pink-footed Shearwaters, over two thousand Sooty Shearwaters, twelve Northern Fulmars, twelve Pomarine Jaegers, one South Polar Skua, six Red Phalaropes, hundreds of Red-necked Phalaropes, one Sabine's Gull, many Heermann's Gulls, thousands of Common Murres, hundreds of Rhinoceros Auklets, several Pacific Loons and a Northern Harrier were seen from a Pelagic tour along the Strait of Juan De Fuca from Sooke to the Carmanah Lighthouse.

Sunday September 07:
Fourteen Lapland Longspurs were seen on Ada Island off Lantzville.

A Whimbrel, Marbled Murrelet, Heerman's Gull, Mew Gull and a possible Snowy Plover were seen at the Pebble Beach area of Columbia Beach.

Wednesday September 03:
"Rare Bird Alert--Juvenile Short-tailed Albatross"
A Juvenile Short-tailed Albatross was seen northwest of Langara Island close to the Canada/Alaska border.

The Short-tailed Albatross nest at Tori Shima, a volcanic island 580 km south of Tokyo, Japan. The Short-tailed Albatross follows the tradewinds north to the Bering Sea and off the coast of British Columbia, but is rarely sighted.

Short-tailed Albatross: Kate Rutherford Photo.

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 October 09, 2008 @ 7:00 pm
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
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Arrowsmith Naturalists
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 Wednesday Morning Birdwalks are cancelled for the summer months and will resume in the fall.
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The Sunday Bird Walk on September 21, 2008 will be going to the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.
Meet at the Bird Store at 9:00 A.M. or at the end of Raines Road (From Cedar Road turn left after the Bridge onto Raines Road) at about 9:30 A.M.
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Good birding
Neil Robins
Nanaimo