Parksville/Qualicum Beach Tuesday bird walk, December 01, 2009

Red Crossbill: Ralph Hocken Photo.

The Tuesday Bird Walk went to the Shelly Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. The morning was sunny and cool with calm winds--a great day for birding.
The highlights of the morning included seeing and hearing the song of two White-winged Crossbills that were in with a flock of Red Crossbills at the top of a tall Fir Tree. We saw a Red-breasted Sapsucker, two Downy Woodpeckers, a Hairy Woodpecker and several Northern Flickers feeding along tree trunks. We looked in vain for a sighting of a Pileated Woodpecker to complete our woodpecker species. Two Eurasian Wigeons were in with a flock of American Wigeons on the estuary. One Bonaparte's Gull was in with the many Mew Gulls and we saw all three merganser species--Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser and Red-breasted Mergansers.
Thirteen birders saw the following fifty-two species of birds:
Canada Goose
Eurasian Wigeon
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Greater Scaup
Harlequin Duck
Surf Scoter
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Barrow's Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Double-crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Bonaparte's Gull
Mew Gull
California Gull
Thayer's Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Belted Kingfisher
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Northwestern Crow
Common Raven
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren
Winter Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
Spotted Towhee
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Brewer's Blackbird
Purple Finch
Red Crossbill
White-winged Crossbill
Pine Siskin

Good birding!
Neil Robins
Parksville
British Columbia