American Goldfinch: 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 January 31, 2010:
The Sunday bird walk went to Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo.
The morning was cloudy but the winds were calm.
We saw a Cooper's Hawk perched in a tall tree overlooking the marsh and another Cooper's Hawk circling above the marsh. There were Cedar Waxwings, American Goldfinch and Pine Siskins feeding on an Alder Tree. We spotted a young, very light coloured Northern Shrike on the Osprey Nest in the middle of the marsh. The Northern Shrike moved to three different perches before a Merlin spotted him and chased him away. We had close views of an male Anna's Hummingbird as he perched on the top of a low bush. A female Anna's Hummingbird joined the male and they both soured to about thirty feet in the air and disappeared. Mating time is here!
Fifteen birders found the following forty-two species of birds:
Greater White-fronted Geese, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Mallard, Pied-billed Grebe, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, Wood Duck, Hooded Merganser, American Coot, California Quail, Glaucous-winged Gull, Bald Eagle, Cooper's Hawk, Merlin, Rock Pigeon, Anna's Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Shrike, Common Raven, Northwestern Crow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bushtit, Bewick's Wren, Marsh Wren, American Robin, Varied Thrush, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Red-winged Blackbird, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Dark-eyed Junco, American Goldfinch and House Sparrow.
Saturday January 30:
A White-throated Sparrow, a Lincoln's Sparrow, a Eurasian Wigeon, a Northern Harrier, a Western Meadowlark and a Short-eared Owl were seen at the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.
Thursday January 28:
A Northern Saw-whet Owl is calling in the woods near the dairy farm fields in Cowichan Station, just South of Duncan.
A pair of Great Horned Owls were seen nesting in a woods in Cowichan Station, south of Duncan.
Wednesday January 27:
A Trumpeter Swan with a white and gold collar was seen in a field near the TransCanada Highway and Mount Sicker Road.
Two Snow Geese and three Cackling Geese were seen in with a flock of over 600 Canada Geese in a field off Cowichian Road south of Duncan.
Tuesday January 26:
The Tuesday Bird Walk went to the Little Qualicum River Estuary in Qualicum Beach.
The morning was sunny and warm with calm winds and sea.
There were over twenty Black Turnstones on the rocks just off shore at the viewing platform and twelve Black Oystercatchers and one Black-bellied Plover on the gravel bar. A large raft of Black Scoters were singing offshore at the Little Qualicum Estuary near the parking area. Further offshore a huge flock of Pacific Loons along with Common Loons and Gulls were in a raft that stretched from the tip of Texada Island to Chrome Island. During the morning the Pacific and Common Loons flew from one end of the raft to other. We saw over forty Trumpeter Swans on the River.
Eight birders saw the following thirty-five species of birds:
Canada Goose, Trumpeter Swan, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Greater Scaup, Harlequin Duck, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Western Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Black-bellied Plover, Black Oystercatcher,
Black Turnstone, Mew Gull, California Gull, Western Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Northwestern Crow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, European Starling, Dark-eyed Junco and Red-winged Blackbird.
An American Kestrel was seen in a backyard near Hallberg and Timberlands Road in Ladysmith.
Sunday January 24:
A Merlin was seen hunting in a garden in the 5400 block of Altavista Drive in 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
Guest Speaker, Carolyn Masson. Topic is The Status Of The Garry Oak Ecosystems.
Thursday February 11, 2010 @ 7:00 pm
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
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Arrowsmith Naturalists
Guest Speaker Guy Monty
Monday February 15, 2010 @ 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 February 02, 2010 will be going to the Deep Bay.
We meet the Parksville Beach Community Park at the parking area near the Lions playground at 9 A.M. or at the Deep Bay Marina parking lot at about 9:35 A.M.
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The Sunday Bird Walk on February 07, 2010, will be going to the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.
Meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 A.M. or at the end of Raines Road at about 9:30 A.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
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