Nanaimo bird report, August 19, 2012

                                      Caspian Terns: Ralph Hocken Photo 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 August 19, 2012:

The Sunday bird walk went to the Shelly Road side of the Englishman River Estuary. The morning was cloudy and cool to start, but finished with bright sunshine.  The bird of the morning was a Long-billed Curlew-- a shorebird not normally found in this area.  We had long views through the scopes at the Curlew as it was feeding along the shoreline across the estuary in front of the Art Gallery at the end of Marina Way in San Pariel.  The Long-billed Curlew is a resident of Southern and Interior B.C. and the prairie provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.  An American Kestrel was perched on a large root not far from the Long-billed Curlew.  We also saw a Merlin, an Osprey, a Northern Harrier, a Cooper’s Hawk and a Bald Eagle during the morning.

Sixteen birders saw and heard the following forty-one species:

Canada Goose, Mallard, Green-winged Teal, Common Merganser, Great Blue Heron, Common Loon, Pigeon Guillemot,  Doubled-crested Cormorant, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Cooper's Hawk, American Kestrel, Osprey, Merlin, Northern Harrier, Killdeer, Black-bellied Plovers, Spotted Sandpiper, Long-billed Curlew,  American Dipper, Purple Martin, Barn Swallow, California Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull,  Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker,  Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Eurasian Collared Dove, Band-tailed Pigeon, European Starling, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch , Brown Creeper,  American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, Spotted Towhee, White-crowned Sparrow, House Finch, American Goldfinch  and Pine Siskin. 

Monday, August 13:

“Rare bird alert-Long-billed Curlew”

A Long-billed Curlew was seen feeding for about thirty minutes, on a gravel bar at the mouth of the Englishman River not far from the Art Gallery.

Harlequin Ducks, Black Oystercatchers, California Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, a flock of Common Mergansers, three Common Loons were also seen at the mouth of the Englishman River. 

A Merlin, Great Blue Heron, Mallard, Canada Goose, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Baird’s Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper were seen at the San Peril mud flats in Parksville. 

Three Caspian Terns, California Gulls, Ring-billed Gulls and Glaucous-winged Gulls, Black-bellied Plover, Black Turnstone, Parasitic Jaeger, Marbled Murrelet, Pigeon Guillemot, Common Raven, Northwestern Crows and four Barn Swallows were seen at Columbia Beach.  

The three Caspian Terns were roosting on a gravel bar to the right and off shore from the ponds at Columbia Beach. 

The Parasitic Jaeger was seen flying up the Strait of Georgia a distance off shore at Columbia Beach.

A Spotted Sandpiper was seen at the viewing platform at Qualicum Beach. 

Five Marbled Murrelets and three Pigeon Guillemot were seen further offshore from the viewing platform at Qualicum Beach. 

A Orange-crowned Warbler and a Black-throated Grey Warbler were seen  in a backyard water stop amongst the bamboo in a backyard in the 6900 block of Lancewood Drive in upper Lantzville.  A Chestnut-backed Chickadee halo surrounded the resident  when he was filling a the tube feeder.  They landed on his arms when he was trying to put the feeder back in an apple tree. 

Sunday, August 12:

Over one hundred Common Nighthawks were seen feeding, strung out over the highway between the Nanaimo airport and the north end of Ladysmith. 

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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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Tuesday bird walks have stopped for the summer season. We will resume the Tuesday bird walks on September 04, 2012.  Have a great summer.
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The Sunday Bird Walk on Sunday August 26, 2012 will be going to Neck Point Park in Nanaimo. We will meet at the bird store at 9:00 a.m. or the parking lot at Neck Point Park off Hammond Bay Road at about 9:15 A.M.
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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

*************************************************************************************””Nature by the Salish Sea"

"Nature By The Salish Sea" is the title of BC Nature's Fall General Meeting which will be held at the Quality Resort Bayside from Sept 27th -30th.  The meeting, organized by Arrowsmith and Nanoose Naturalists, includes field trips, presentations, a banquet and a barbecue.  For more information go to www.arrowsmithnats.org or phone 250-468-7475

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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.