Naimo bird report

Surfbirds: Rlph Hocken Photo.

NANAIMO BIRD REPORT

” GO BIRDING--EXPLORE NATURE”

Please remember, when reporting a sighting to leave your name and phone number along with the date, the species and location of your sighting.

To report your sightings phone the Store at 250-390-3669 or e-mail us at thebackyard@shaw.ca
Sunday March 18: 2012:
The Sunday bird walk went to Neck Point Park in Nanaimo. The morning started out cloudy and cool but ended being sunny and warm. The highlights included seeing a raft of thirty Barrow’s Goldeneye at the start of the walk. Over three hundred Surfbirds and fifty Black Turnstones were feeding on Herring eggs at the Point and moved along the shore until Sunset Beach. The Spotted Sandpiper was seen along the Beach at it’s usual spot.

Surfbirds: Ralph Hocken Photo.
Twenty birders saw and heard the following forty-two species of birds: Canada Geese, Mallard, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Bufflehead, Greater Scaup, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Harlequin Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Merganser, Horned Grebe, Surfbirds, Black Turnstones, Dunlin, Spotted Sandpiper, Bald Eagle, Mew Gulls, Thayer's Gull, California Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Common Raven, Northwestern Crow, European Starling, American Robin, Varied Thrush, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Belted Kingfisher, Anna’s Hummingbird, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Brown Creeper, Bushtit, Pacific Wren, Bewick's Wren, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Pine Siskin and Red-winged Blackbird.
Saturday March 17:
Over thirty-one Evening Grosbeaks were seen in a backyard along Lakeside Drive in the Cinnabar Valley south Nanaimo.

Eight Western Meadowlarks, two Northern Harriers and a Tree Swallow were seen and heard at the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.

Friday, March 16:
Three Turkey Vultures were seen soaring over Craig Street and Meridian Way in Parksville.
One Turkey Vulture was seen soaring over McVickers Street and Standford Avenue in Parksville.
Thursday March 15:
Black Turnstones and a flock of Surfbirds were seen at Neck Point Park in Nanaimo.
Over twenty Bald Eagles were seen at Neck Point Park and Piper’s Lagoon in Nanaimo.
Tuesday, March 13:
The Tuesday bird walk went to Columbia Beach, French Creek and Morningstar Ponds. The morning was sunny and warm which made for a great morning of birding. A flock of Greater White-fronted Geese flew past high over head. Thousands of Gulls were in a Hugh raft on the Strait of Georgia. Large numbers of Brant Geese flew in with the Gulls throughout the morning. Black-bellied Plovers, Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstone and Dunlin were roosting on the point at French Creek. We spotted a Yellow-rumped Warbler fly catching on the Alder Trees at the Morningstar Ponds.

Brant Geese: Ralph Hocken Photo.

Fourteen birders saw and heard the following fifty-one species:
Greater White-fronted Geese, Canada Geese, Brant, Eurasian Wigeon,
American Wigeon, Mallard, Ring-necked Duck, Surf Scoter, Bufflehead,
Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Bald Eagle, Black-bellied Plover, Killdeer, Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstone,
Dunlin, Mew Gull, California Gull, Herring Gull, Thayer's Gull, Western Gull,
Glaucous-winged Gull, Glaucous Gull, Common Murre, Rock Pigeon, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, European Starling, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, House Finch, Pine Siskin and House Sparrow.


Monday March 12:
A Northern Shrike was spotted along Beaconsfield Road, off Howard Avenue in Nanaimo.
Sunday March 11:
A Turkey Vulture was seen high above Nanoose Bay.

A Eurasian-collared Dove was seen along Lynburn Crescent in Nanaimo.

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Nanoose Field Naturalists Meeting.
Thursday, March 08, 7 pm in the Library on Northwest Bay Road.
Guest Speaker-- Randy Hall will give a slide presentation and talk on “Nature Photography – how to get the best out of you camera”. Visitors and new members welcome. nanoosenaturalists.org
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Arrowsmith Naturalists Meeting,
Monday March 26, 7:30 p.m. Springwood School, Parksville.
Presenters will be "The Guardians of the Mid-Island Estuaries (Tim Clermont, Danielle Morrison, and John Cooper)
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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.
************************************************************************************TThe Tuesday Birdwalk on March 20, 2012 will go to the Shelly Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. We will meet at Parksville Bay at the Lion's Playground parking area in Parksville at 9:00 a.m. or at the end of Shelly Road at about 9:05a.m.
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The Sunday Bird Walk on March 25 will be going to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River in Parksville. We will meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 a.m. or at corner of Plummer Road and Shorewood Drive 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
thebackyard@shaw.ca
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG---> www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com

Nanaimo Museum Presents: Our Feathered Friends

Why are feathers important to understanding birds? Why do some remain close to home year‐round and others migrate for thousands of kilometers? Answers to these questions are an integral part of Our Feathered Friends, a travelling exhibition from Ottawa’s Canadian Museum of Nature. The exhibition ‘takes flight’ at the Nanaimo Museum, from February 3 to May 21, 2012 and is suitable for all ages.
The exhibition’s display units and graphics provide an introduction to birds and birdwatching. “Visitors’ skill when identifying local birds will be enhanced via the exceptional photography of Ralph Hocken and study specimens loaned from VIU’s Museum of Natural History, “said curator David Hill‐Turner. “Novice birders will find the exhibition and programs very helpful in learning more about the hobby”.
Public Programs offered as part of the exhibition will appeal to various birding interests. They include: a photography contest, Urban Bird tours, birding and nature photography presentations and ecology programs for Elementary School students. (Visit our website for full details, www.nanaimomuseum.ca or contact Aimee Greenaway at 250.753.1821)
Come along to the workshops and demonstrations, try your hand at the oriental art of Origami and even learn to prepare a meal for your favourite backyard bird. Using photos, specimens and video, learn what makes birds special, how they soar and glide and how to identify them. More than 400 species of birds have been identified in BC, more than any other province in Canada.
Whether you are an indoor or outdoor birdwatcher you will find something of interest in this traveling exhibit, Our Feathered Friends at Nanaimo Museum. This exhibition is sponsored by THE BACKYARD Wildbird and Nature Store.