Song Sparrow: 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 17, 2010:
The Sunday bird walk went to Nanoose Bay. The morning was very windy and the Strait of Georgia was very rough. We saw seven Bald Eagles and a Red-tailed Hawk was perched on the tall perching snag. A large flock of handsome Northern Pintails were seen in the tall grasses on the estuary. A small flock of Mew Gulls gathered on the estuary.
Eight birders found the following twenty-eight species of birds:
Common Loon, Great Blue Heron, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Horned Grebe, American Wigeon, Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Merganser, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Merlin, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Mew Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Northern Flicker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, European Starling, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco.
Saturday January 16:
A Northern Goshawk was spotted flying across the Englishman River in Parksville.
A Northern Harrier was seen flying low over the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville.
A male Anna's Hummingbird was seen in courtship behavior over a little marsh behind Longwood Station in north Nanaimo. He would climb to about 35 feet in altitude, pause, then dive and give a loud 'ping' call as he ended the descent. He then rose to about 15 feet and hovered while calling three repeats of the typical 'zinc-zinc' call. He repeated this about a half dozen times.
A White-throated Sparrow, five Golden-crowned, a Northern Harrier, a Short-eared Owl and a Sharp-shinned Hawk were seen at the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.
Over seventy Dark-eyed Juncos, several pairs of Anna's Hummingbirds (the females are gathering nesting material in the area) and a Varied Thrush are visiting feeders along Hammond Bay Road in Nanaimo.
A flock of about 40 Trumpeter Swans flew east along the Millstone River, over Buttertubs Marsh, and disappeared, going towards Gabriola Island.
Friday January 15:
A Rufous Hummingbird was spotted in the 600 block of Beaconsfield Road in Nanaimo.
Thursday January 14:
Three American Tree Sparrows were seen along the hedgerow to the right of the Oak tree at the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.
Wednesday January 13:
A large flock of Pine Siskins and eighteen House and Purple Finch were seen in a back yard along Dawkins Lane in Nanaimo.
Tuesday January 12:
The Tuesday Bird Walk went to the Shelley Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. The 12ยบ morning was partly cloudy with calm winds--a great morning to be birding.
The highlights of the morning included seeing a Peregrine Falcon looking down at us from a high perch on a snag as he preened himself. As we watched, he was joined by another Peregrine Falcon on a nearby snag. We spotted four mature Bald Eagles along the Estuary. A Sharp-shinned Hawk flew to a perch high up in a Fir Tree. A Red-tailed Hawk was perched on a snag overlooking the Estuary. A small flock of Golden-crowned Kinglets and Ruby-crowned Kinglets gave us spectacular views as they gleaned insects from some low small shrubs about four feet from us.
A Merlin made a quick appearance, while we doing the tally at the end of the walk, making the total predators of the morning five.
Eleven birders saw and heard the following forty-three species of birds:
Canada Goose, Trumpeter Swan, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail,
Greater Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Pacific Loon, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon,
Black Turnstone, Mew Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Belted Kingfisher, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, 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, Cedar Waxwing, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Purple Finch, Red Crossbill and Pine Siskin.
Sunday January 10:
A Cooper’s Hawk and a Downy Woodpecker were seen at Buttertub’s Marsh 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
Thursday January 14, 2010 @ 7:00 pm
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
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Arrowsmith Naturalists
Monday January 25, 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 January 19, 2010 will be going to the Columbia Beach.
We meet the Parksville Beach Community Park at the parking area near the Lions playground at 9 A.M. or at the parking area off Admiral Tyron Bld. at about 9:15 A.M.
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The Sunday Bird Walk on January 24, 2010, will be going to the Shelly Road side of the Englishman River in Parksville.
Meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 A.M. or at the end of Shelly Road in Parksville 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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