Nanaimo bird report, July 29, 2012

**************************************************************************************** Purple Martin: 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 29, 2012: The Sunday bird walk went to Ladysmith Harbour in Ladysmith. The morning was sunny and warm. We saw sixty Purple Martin nest boxes with an average of three birds per nest. The Purple Martins were flying, singing and perch close to the docks. We spotted a Heermann’s Gull perched on a rocky point across from the harbour **************************************************************************************** Nine birders saw and heard the following twenty-one species. Common Merganser, Turkey Vulture, Great Blue Heron, Black Oystercatcher, Heermann’s Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Pigeon Guillemot, Rock Pigeon, Belted Kingfisher, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Northern Flicker, Purple Martin, Pacific-sloped Flycatcher, Bewick’s Wren, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, White-crowned Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, American Goldfinch. **************************************************************************************** Saturday, July 28: Two Pileated Woodpeckers are visiting suet feeders at the corner of Brookwood Drive and Rutherford Road in Nanaimo. **************************************************************************************** Wednesday, July 25: Two Common Nighthawks and a Coopers Hawk were seen over Meridian Way in Parksville. ******************************************************************************************* A Hairy Woodpecker, a Pacific-sloped Flycatcher, an Orange-crowned Warbler, a Red-breasted Nuthatch and a flock of Chestnut-backed Chickadees were seen along the north Lighthouse Trail near Bowser. ***************************************************************************************** Tuesday, July 24: A Spotted Sandpiper, four Killdeer, two Belted Kingfishers, a Pigeon Guillemot and a Bald Eagle were seen at French Creek. *************************************************************************************** Monday, July 23: A flock of Bonaparte Gulls, thirty California Gulls, a Caspian Gull, fourteen Mew Gulls, two Marbled Murrelets, a Semipalmated Plover, two Least Sandpipers, and several Killdeer were seen, at the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. *********************************************************************************** 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 August 05, 2012 will be going to the Legacy Marsh in upper Lantzville. We will meet at the bird store at 9:00 a.m. or under the Hydro Lines on Normarel Drive at about 9:10 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 ************************************************************************************* 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.