Parksville/Qualicum Beach Tuesday bird walk

                           Short-eared Owl: Ralph Hocken Photo.

 

The Tuesday bird walk went to the Englishman River Estuary, Shelly Road side in Parksville. The morning was cloudy with fog but the winds were calm. The bird of the morning was the sighting of a Short-eared Owl perched on a big log in the meadow, giving us great views through the spotting scopes. The Owl stayed in one spot for about thirty minutes, only turning it’s head to look at us and check for prey. Twenty-five Trumpeter Swans flew over heading east. Two Snow Geese were following three Trumpeter Swans heading down the Island. A flock of forty Greater White-fronted Geese flew low overhead going towards Victoria. We spotted a Northern Shrike perched atop a conifer tree at the point at the Surfside R.V. Resort. We saw four Pileated Woodpeckers throughout the morning. One female and three male Eurasian Widgeon were feeding in with the American Widgeon on the tideline. A pair of Common Goldeneye and several Long-tailed Ducks were seen further offshore. It was a great morning for birds!

Eleven birders saw and heard the following sixty species:

Trumpeter Swan

Canada Geese

Snow Geese

Greater White-fronted Geese
Eurasian Widgeon
American Widgeon
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Harlequin Duck
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Red-necked Grebe
Doubled-crested Cormorant

Pelagic Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Peregrine Falcon
Short-eared Owl

Dunlin

Killdeer

Mew Gull
California Gull
Thayer's Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Anna's Hummingbird
Red-breasted Sapsucker

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Shrike

Steller’s Jay
Northwestern Crow
Common Raven
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick's Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Brown Creeper
American Robin
Varied Thrush
European Starling
Townsend's Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Purple Finch
Pine Siskin

The Tuesday bird walk on November 06 will be going to Deep Bay.

Good birding

Neil Robins

Parksville

British Columbia