Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, Bird alert, July 19, 2009

A newborn Spotted Sandpiper: 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 this 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 July 19, 2009:
The Sunday Bird Walk went to Neck Point Park in Nanaimo. The morning was sunny and warm.
The highlights included seeing a House Wren perching before taking insects into a nesting cavity in a tall snag. This is the first time that the group could remember seeing a House Wren in this area. We heard what sounded like a small flock of White-winged Crossbills flying over the point. The sound was a very mechanical trill--definitely different from the musical sounds of the more common Red Crossbills. We saw three Pigeon Guillemots playing on the water just past the large rocks and two Spotted Sandpipers bobbing just off the tide line at Sunset Beach.
Twenty-two birders, including birders from Manchester England, Ontario, Washington State, Texas and Vancouver Island saw and heard the following thirty-one species of birds:
Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Surf Scoters, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Spotted Sandpiper, California Quail, California Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Pigeon Guillemot, Marbled Murrelet, Rufous Hummingbird, Northern Flicker, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Northwestern Crow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Bewick's Wren, House Wren, Swainson's Thrush, American Robin, European Starling, Brown-headed Cowbird, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, House Finch, Purple Finch, Red Crossbills, White-winged Crossbills and American Goldfinch.

Saturday, July 18:
A Black Swift was spotted high over Meridian Way in Parksville.

Friday July 17:
A Yellow Warbler was seen in the 3000 block of Hammond Bay Road in Nanaimo.

Wednesday July 15:
Two Arctic Terns were heard and seen flying above Cox Bay near Tofino.

Tuesday July 14:
A Bonaparte's Gull was seen on the French Creek Estuary.

Sunday July 12:
A pair of fledgling Barred Owls were seen and heard along a strip of parkland between Lintlaw Road and Beaver Creek Terrace in the Diver Lake area of 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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The Nanoose Naturalists
Thursday September 10, 2009 @ 7:00 pm
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
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Arrowsmith Naturalists
Monday September 28, 2009 @ 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
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 Backyard Wildbird & Nature Store's weekly bird walk in the Parksville/Qualicum Beach area on Tuesday mornings will not be held during the summer months. We will resume the Tuesday bird walks on September 01, 2009.
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The Sunday Bird Walk on July 26 will be going to Hemer Park in Cedar.
Meet at the Bird store at 9:00 a.m. or at the parking area off Hemer Road at Hemer Park at about 9:30 a.m.
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Good birding!
Neil Robins
Nanaimo
Bitish Columbia