Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, bird alert, November 01, 2009

Red-tailed Hawk: Ralph Hocken Photo.

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 November 01, 2009:
The Sunday Bird Walk went to the Nanoose Estuary in at Nanoose Bay. The morning was sunny and calm until the near the end of the walk, when it turned quite windy.
We saw three different Red-tailed Hawks--one was perched in a large bush near the church camp, one was perched in the tall perching snag above a Great Blue Heron and the third Hawk was up high above the tree line being harassed by two Common Ravens. A Merlin flew in above us and circled around and then headed west and disappeared. We observed a Cooper's Hawk circling above the trees, moving higher and higher into the sky. Three Dunlin were resting on the shoreline of the incoming tide. We spotted an Eurasian Wigeon among a flock of American Wigeon.
Fifteen birders heard and saw the following forty species of birds:
Canada Goose, Mallard, American Wigeon, Eurasian Wigeon, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Common Merganser Common Loon, Pacific Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Merlin, Cooper's Hawk, Dunlin, Mew Gull, California Gull, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, American Robin, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, European Starling, Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco and Purple Finch.

Saturday October 31:
A Northern Shrike and three Short-eared Owls were seen at the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.

An Anna's Hummingbird was seen feeding from garden fuchsia in the 2500 Block of Glenayr Drive in Nanaimo.

Friday October 30:
Two Wilson's Snipe, one Long-billed Dowitcher, two Eurasian Wigeon and an American/Eurasian Hybrid Wigeon were seen at Holden Creek side of the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.

Thursday October 29:
A large flock of American Wigeon, Black-bellied Plovers, Killdeer, Black Turnstone and a flock of Dunlin were seen at the Parksville Bay at low tide.

Eurasian Wigeon, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Harlequin Duck, Surf Scoter, Bufflehead, Common Merganser, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Brandt's Cormorant,
Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Bald Eagle, Mew Gull, California Gull, Herring Gull, Thayer's Gull, Western Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Northern Flicker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bushtit and Golden-crowned Kinglets were seen on the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville.

Canada Geese and one Cackling Goose, American Coots, Mallards, Ring-necked Ducks, Greater Scaup and a Hooded Merganser were seen at Craig Bay in Parksville.

Tuesday October 27:
The Tuesday Bird Walk went to Rathtrevor Provincial Park in Parksville. The morning was partly cloudy with strong winds making the Strait of Georgia very choppy. The highlights of the morning included seeing a flock of Dunlin along the tide line. White-winged, Surf and Back Scoters, Pacific and Common Loons, Pigeon Guillemot and Common Mergansers were further offshore. Inland, near the marsh we came across a large mixed flock of songbirds including Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Bushtits, Red-breasted Nuthatch, a Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, a Hutton's Vireo, Varied Thrush and a Townsend's Warbler.
Twenty-one birders saw and heard the following forty-four species of birds:
American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Greater Scaup, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Common Merganser, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Dunlin, Mew Gull, California Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Pigeon Guillemot, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Hutton's Vireo, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bushtit, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Bewick's Wren, Winter Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet,
American Robin, Varied Thrush, Townsend's Warbler, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, House Finch, Red Crossbill and American Goldfinch.

Fifteen Long-billed Dowitchers were seen at Holden Creek in south Nanaimo.

A flock of eleven Trumpeter Swans and one juvenile Northern Harrier were seen at the Nanaimo River Estuary, Raines Road side.

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
Guest Speaker Entemologist Evelyn Stokkink will talk about the life of the Ambrosia Beetle.
Thursday November 12, 2009 @ 7:00 pm
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
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Arrowsmith Naturalists
Monday November 23, 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 Tuesday Bird Walk on November 03, 2009 will be going to the Little Qualicum River Estuary in Qualicum Beach.
Meet at the Parksville Beach Community Park near the parking area at the Lion's Playground at 9:00 A.M. or at the Viewing Platform on Highway 19A and Garrett Road in Qualicum Beach at about 9:15 A.M.
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The Sunday Bird Walk on November 08 will be going to the Little Qualicum River Estuary in Qualicum Beach.
Meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 A.M. or at the Viewing Platform on Highway 19A and Garrett Road in Qualicum Beach at about 9:30A.M.
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Good birding
Neil Robins

THE BACKYARD
Wildbird & Nature Store
6314 Metral Drive, Nanaimo, BC V9T 2L8
250.390.3669
250.390.1633 fax
thebackyard@shaw.ca
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG---> www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com