Nanaimo bird report, July 23, 2012

*************************************************************************************** Ruby-crowned Kinglet: 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 July 22, 2012: The Sunday bird walk went to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. We watched as a Warbling Vireo fed a young Brown-headed Cowbird. Seventeen birders saw and heard the following forty-three species. Canada Geese, Common Merganser, Surf Scoter, Great Blue Heron, Black Oystercatcher, Greater Yellowlegs, Caspian Tern, Glaucous-winged Gull, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, California Quail, Rufous Hummingbird, Anna’s Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Pacific-sloped Flycatcher, Willow Flycatcher, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Barn Swallow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick's Wren, Bushtit, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, Swainson’s Thrush, Cedar Waxwing, Western Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Orange-crowned Warbler, Warbling Vireo, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Red Crossbill, House Finch, Purple Finch, American Goldfinch and Pine Siskin. *************************************************************************************** Sixteen Bushtits were feeding at feeders in the 2000 block of Honeysuckle Terrace in Nanaimo. *************************************************************************************** Friday July 20: Large numbers of Purple Martins were seen flying over Columbia Beach. ****************************************************************************************Thursday July 19: A Great Horned Owl was being mobbed by a flock of American Robins on a trail at the Cassidy Fish Hatchery in south Nanaimo. ************************************************************************************* Fifteen to twenty Common Nighthawks were seen feeding in a mass swarm alongside a few swallows above the large evergreens on Drake and Chestnut Streets, on the Stewart Road side in Nanaimo. *************************************************************************************** A Great Horned Owl was seen at Neck Point Park in Nanaimo. *************************************************************************************** Tuesday July 17: Forty Common Nighthawks were seen high over the Old City Quarter in downtown Nanaimo. ************************************************************************************** Monday July 16: Ten Common Nighthawks and four Vaux’s Swifts were seen high above Lancashire Avenue in Nanaimo. *************************************************************************************** A Semipalmated Plover, a Least Sandpiper and sixteen Killdeer were seen at the mudflats on the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. *************************************************************************************** Friday July 13: A Virginia Rail was seen crossing the road near the mail boxes on Scotchtown Road in Nanaimo. ************************************************************************************** Wednesday July 11: Twenty-five Common Nighthawks were seen feeding high over the 2500 block of Glenayr Crescent in Nanaimo. *********************************************************************************** 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. ************************************************************************************* Tuesday bird walks have stopped for the summer season. We will resume the Tuesday bird walks on September 04, 2012. Have a great summer. ************************************************************************************* The Sunday Bird Walk on Sunday July 29, 2012 will be going to the Ladysmith Harbour in Ladysmith. We will meet at the bird store at 9:00 a.m. or at the parking area at Transfer Beach in Ladysmith at about 9:45 A.M. ********************************************************* Good birding Neil Robins *************************************************************************************** THE BACKYARD WILDBIRD & NATURE STORE 6314 Metral Drive Nanaimo B.C. V9T-2L8 Phone: 250-390-3669 Fax: 250-390-1633 Email: thebackyard@shaw.ca Blog: www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com ************************************************************************************* You are invited to the 8th Annual Purple Martin Open House at the Ladysmith Maritime Society marina (follow the yellow signs) on July 29 from 1 pm - 4 pm. Wear something PURPLE!! Come and help us celebrate the return of Purple Martins at the largest colony on Vancouver Island! - see adult birds feeding nestlings - learn more about the birds and the recovery program at our displays - see baby birds being banded at 2 pm and 3 pm Light refreshments will be available, including our famous purple (blueberry) milkshake (while quantities last). Please park in the upper parking lot. Walk down the stairs and come down onto the wharf to the social dock where the tents are (beyond the big blue boat shed and museum). Please forward this invitation to others who may be interested in attending. Hope to see you there. Cheers, Charlene ************************************************************************************* WANTED Have you seen these birds? Western Bluebirds (Sialia mexicana) have been released in Maple Bay as part of a species recovery program. These rare native songbirds may be foraging and nesting in your area! We need your help to find them so that we can record their nesting locations and habitat use, and monitor and care for them. General Identification Tips Smaller than a robin, about 5.5 inches, with a thin bill. Found in open habitat, pastureland, Garry Oak meadows; perched on fence lines or low branches. Some of the birds are wearing coloured leg bands—please note the colours if you can! To learn more about the Bring Back the Bluebirds Project, see www.goert.ca/bluebird. Please help us watch for Western Bluebirds and contact us immediately if you think you see them: bluebird@goert.ca; 250-383-3427. **************************************************************************************** THE BACKYARD WILDBIRD & NATURE STORE 6314 Metral Drive Nanaimo B.C. V9T-2L8 Phone: 250-390-3669 Fax: 250-390-1633 Email: thebackyard@shaw.ca Blog: www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com