Anna's Hummingbird: Ralph 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 25: 2012:
The Sunday bird walk went to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. The morning was sunny but cool. The highlights included seeing a male Anna’s Hummingbird doing several courting dives. A Eurasian Wigeon and three Gadwalls were seen near the mud flats. Thousands of Surf Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks. Common Murres and a Marbled Murrelet were seen far offshore. Hundreds of Brant Geese landed close to shore giving us close views and the sounds of the chatty geese. A pod of Orcas stole the show, however, as they moved up the Strait of Georgia, breaking to the surface of the water every few minutes with spectacular breeches.
Twenty-eight birders saw and heard the following sixty species of birds:
Canada Geese, Brant, Eurasian Wigeon, American Wigeon, Mallard, Gadwall, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Tea, Greater Scaup, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Harlequin Duck, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Red-necked Grebe, Horned Grebe, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Brandt’s Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Common Murre, Marbled Murrelet, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Black Oystercatcher, Ring-necked Pheasant, Mew Gull, California Gull, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous Gull, Western Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Violet-green Swallow, Tree Swallow, Anna’s Hummingbird, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Bushtit, Bewick’s Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, European Starling, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Purple Finch, Pine Siskins and House Finch.
Saturday March 24:
A Rufous Hummingbird was seen visiting feeders along Meridian Way in Parksville.
Friday March 23:
Violet-green Swallows, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow and Canada Geese were seen at the Holden Creek side of the Nanaimo River Estuary.
Western Meadowlark, Mallard, Green-winged Teal, Common Raven, seven Bald Eagles, Glaucous-winged Gull, Turkey Vulture, Belted Kingfisher, four Northern Harriers, European Starling, Brewer's Blackbird Northwestern Crow and Common Merganser were seen at the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.
Five Hundred Surfbirds, one hundred Harlequin Ducks and a few Black Turnstones were seen at Neck Point Park in Nanaimo.
Thursday, March 22:
Three Merlin’s were seen in Cinnabar Valley in south Nanaimo.
Wednesday, March 21:
A Rufous Hummingbird was spotted at a feeder along Suzanne Avenue on Gabriola Island.
Tuesday, March 20:
The Tuesday bird walk went to the Shelly Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. The morning was sunny with rain showers and a strong cold wind from the snow on Mount Arrowsmith. Fifteen Trumpeter Swans flew past high overhead. Large numbers of Brant Geese flew up the Strait of Georgia. Hundreds of Greater Scaup were spotted next to a gravel bar not far from shore. We spotted a Hutton's Vireo singing his heart out from a conifer tree. We saw a Northern Shrike near the river and one on the meadows near the R.V. Park. We watched as a female Northern Harrier stood motionless for a long time and then started hunting just above the grass.
Twenty-one birders saw and heard the following fifty-two species.
Canada Geese, Brant, Trumpeter Swan, Eurasian Wigeon, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Greater Scaup, Surf Scoter, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Mew Gull, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Rock Pigeon, Belted Kingfisher, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Northern Shrike, Hutton's Vireo,
Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Bewick's Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, Varied Thrush, European Starling,
Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-winged Blackbird, Pine Siskin, House Sparrow,
Tree Swallows and Yellow-rumped Warblers were seen at Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo.
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Nanoose Field Naturalists Meeting.
Meet on the second Thursday of the month. The next meeting will be on April 12 at the Nanoose Library at 7:00 p.m. Visitors and new members are 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 27, 2012 will go to Rathtrevor Provincial Park 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 main parking lot at Rathtrevor Provincial Park about 9:10.a.m
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The Sunday Bird Walk on April 01, will be going to Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo. We will meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 a.m. or at parking lot at Buttertubs Marsh off Bowen Road at about 9:20 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
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