Parksville/Qualicum Beach Tuesday bird walk, September 25, 2012

                                          Steller's Jay: Ralph Hocken Photo.

 

The Tuesday bird walk went to the Shelly Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. The morning was sunny with the feel of autumn in the air. The bird of the morning was the unusual sighting of a Black-and-White Warbler feeding on insects in a tree near the trail. Black and White Warblers are normally observed east of the Rockies and have only been sighted here on rare occasions. We saw and heard a Cassin’s Vireo feeding on a large bush near the trail. Both the Warbler and the Vireo co-operated and we were able to watch them both for a long period of time. A Steller’s Jay and a flock of Golden-crowned Sparrows were singing and feeding next to the trail. A Western Grebe and a Red-necked Grebe were seen just off shore at low tide.

Fifteen birders saw and heard the following fifty-one species:

Canada Geese

American Widgeon
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter

Black Scoter

Western Grebe

Red-necked Grebe
Common Merganser
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle

Killdeer

Black Oystercatcher

Bonaparte's Gull
Mew Gull
California Gull
Thayer's Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Eurasian Collared- Dove
Anna's Hummingbird

Cassin’s Vireo

Orange-crowned Warbler

Black-and-White Warbler
Belted Kingfisher
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker

Steller’s Jay

Northwestern Crow
Common Raven
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren
Pacific Wren

Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Brewer's Blackbird
Purple Finch
House Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch

The Tuesday bird walk on October 02, 2012 will be going to Rathtrevor Provincial Park in Parksville.

 

Good birding

Neil Robins

Parksville

British Columbia