Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, bird alert, November 22, 2009

Red-necked Grebe: 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 22, 2009:
The Sunday Bird Walk went to Neck Point in Nanaimo. Check Shaw Cable channel 04, on Tuesday November 24, in the evening, for coverage of this birdwalk!
The morning was cloudy, the winds were calm and the tide was high. The highlights of the morning included seeing three Pelagic Cormorants, a Great Blue Heron, over thirty Surfbirds, a Dunlin, eight Black Turnstones and three Black Oystercatchers on the rocks not far from the shoreline. We watched several Orcas feeding near the horizon as they moved down the Strait of Georgia.
Eight birders heard and saw the following thirty-seven species of birds:
Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Common Goldeneye,
Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Harlequin Duck, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Great Blue Heron, Dunlin, Black Turnstone, Black Oystercatcher, Spotted Sandpiper, Surfbird, Black-bellied Plover, Bald Eagle, Mew Gull, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull,
Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, European Starling, Chestnut-backed Chickadee,
Red-breasted Nuthatch, Bushtit, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, Varied Thrush, Spotted Towhee, Dark-eyed Junco, House Finch, Song Sparrow, Red Crossbill.

Saturday November 21:
A Palm Warbler was seen with a Yellow-rumped Warbler at the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo. The Palm Warbler was seen along the long Hawthorn Hedgerow on the right of the tall Oak Tree.

Eight Trumpeter Swans were seen flying over Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo.

Friday November 20
A Sharp-shinned Hawk was seen on a fence post in the 100 block of Meridian Way in Parksville.

Thursday November 19:
Steller's Jays, California Quail, Spotted Towhees, Dark-eyed Juncos, House Finches, Varied Thrush, Northern Flickers and an Anna's Hummingbird are visiting feeders in along Cloke Road in Ladysmith.

Eight California Quail were seen in the 2500 block of Glenayr Drive in Nanaimo.

Tuesday November 17:
The Tuesday bird went to Columbia Beach. There were light rainshower's for most of the morning, but we were fortunate enough to have a reprieve from them for an hour. The surf was up on Strait of Georgia and the seas were choppy. The highlights of the morning included seeing several flocks of Black-bellied Plovers, a Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstones and Dunlin heading to the gravel bar at Pebble Beach. Five flocks of over four hundred Bonaparte's Gulls flew past us and a flock of about a hundred stopping at the gravel bar. We saw two Ancient Murrelets racing just above the water down the Strait. Bonaparte's Gulls, Mew Gulls, Ring-billed Gull, California Gulls Thayer's Gulls and Glaucous-winged Gulls gave us good views as they roosted on the gravel bar.
Seven birders saw and heard the following forty species of birds.
American Wigeon, Mallard , Greater Scaup, Harlequin Duck, Surf Scoter, Black Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Western Grebe, Brandt's Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Bald Eagle, Black-bellied Plover, Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstone, Dunlin, Bonaparte's Gull, Mew Gull, Ring-billed Gull, California Gull, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Ancient Murrelet, Rock Pigeon, Northern Flicker, Northwestern Crow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bewick's Wren, European Starling, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow and House Finch.

A large flock of Trumpeter Swans were seen in the fields off Cedar Road in Cedar.

One Short-eared Owl, one Northern Harrier, two Northern Shrikes, five Western Meadowlarks, two Cackling Geese and a Lincoln's sparrow were seen at the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.

Monday November 16:
A Trumpeter Swan was seen on the marsh at Hemer Provincial Park in Cedar.

A Sharp-shinned Hawk was seen in the 3000 block of Hammond Bay Road in Nanaimo.

Saturday November 14:
Two male Anna's Hummingbirds and a Townsend Solitaire were seen feeding in a backyard along Drew Road in French Creek.

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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Arrowsmith Naturalists
Guest speaker, Haida Bolton will talk about "Camp Uganda, an educational camp in the Wildlife Education Centre for underprivileged Uganda Children and their parents."
Monday November 23, 2009 @ 7:30 pm.
Springwood School
Parksville
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The Nanoose Naturalists
Thursday December 10, 2009 @ 7:00 pm
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
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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 24, 2009 will be going to Rathtrevor Provincial Park in Parksville.
Meet at the Parksville Beach Community Park near the parking area at the Lion's Playground at 9:00 A.M. or at the main parking lot in Rathtrevor Provincial Park at about 9:15 A.M. Pleas note there is a parking fee at the park.
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The Sunday Bird Walk on November 29 will be going to Rathtrevor Provincial Park in Parksville.
Meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 A.M. or at the main parking lot in Rathtrevor Provincial Park at about 9:30 A.M. Please note there is a parking fee at the park.
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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