Nanaimo bird report, April 14, 2013

 

Evening Grosbeaks: Malcom Photo.

 

NANAIMO BIRD REPORT -----” GO BIRDING--EXPLORE NATURE”

To report your sightings phone the Store at 250-390-3669 or e-mail us at thebackyard@shaw.ca

Please remember, when reporting a sighting, to leave your name and phone number along with the date, the species and location of your sighting.

Sunday, April 14, 2013:

The Sunday bird walk went to Morrell Sanctuary in Nanaimo.  The morning was mostly cloudy with a few sunny periods. We watched a pair of Brown Creepers building a nest under the bark of a tree.  Four Evening Grosbeaks were feeding on the Maple Tree buds giving us great views. We heard a Hutton’s Vireo and Pacific Wrens singing during the morning.

Seventeen birders including visiting birders from Calgary and Wisconsin saw and heard the following thirty-one species:

Canada Goose,  Mallard, Bufflehead, Turkey Vulture,  Bald Eagle, Barred Owl,  Band-tailed Pigeon,  Anna's Hummingbird,  Rufous Hummingbird,    Pileated Woodpecker,  Steller's Jay,  Common Raven,  Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Brown Creeper,  Red-breasted Nuthatch,  Pacific Wren,  Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, Varied Thrush,  European Starling,  Hutton's Vireo, Orange-crowned Warbler,  Yellow-rumped Warbler, Evening Grosbeak, Spotted Towhee, Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco,  Purple Finch and Pine Siskin. 

 

A Mountain Bluebird, fourteen Greater Yellowlegs, a Lesser Yellowlegs, a Western Meadowlark and a Northern Harrier were seen at the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.  

Saturday, April 13:

 ATownsend’s Solitaire and a Wilson’s Snipe were seen on the Shelly Road side of the Englishman River in Parksville. 

Friday, April 12:

A Chipping Sparrow was visiting a backyard feeder along Meridian Way in Parksville.  

Thursday, April 11:

Sixteen Greater Yellowlegs were seen off Macki Road in south Nanaimo. 

Tuesday, April 09:

The Tuesday bird walk went to Columbia Beach and French Creek. The morning was cloudy with light rain and a strong wind off the Strait of Georgia. The highlights included seeing two Clark’s Grebes in with about twenty Western Grebes not far from shore. We spotted several Common Murre, two Rhinoceros Auklet, two Marbled Murrelet and a Pigeon Guillemot on the Strait. Three Yellow-rumped Warblers were feeding in a tall Alder Tree near French Creek.  A Fox Sparrow put in a quick appearance at the end of the walk. 

Sixteen birders saw and heard the following fifty-eight species:
Canada Goose, Brant, Eurasian Wigeon, American Wigeon, Mallard, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Merganser, Common Loon, Pacific Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Western Grebe, Clark’s Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Brandt’s Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Killdeer, Black Oystercatcher, Mew Gull, California Gull, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Common Murre, Rhinoceros Auklet, Marbled Murrelet, Pigeon Guillemot, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian-collared Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Anna’s Hummingbird, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, Varied Thrush, European Starling, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco , Red-winged Blackbird, House Finch , Pine Siskin and House Sparrow. 

Monday, April 08:

A Black Headed Grosbeak was seen in a yard along Parkview Avenue in Parksville.

 **************************************************

Monday, April 22:

Arrowsmith Naturalists - GENERAL MEETING  Knox United Church, 345 Pym, Parksville @ 7:30 p.m.

Topic: Bear Smart Program  Speaker: Crystal McMillan  

*************************************************************

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.

 

*********************************************************************

The Tuesday bird walk on April 16, 2013 will be going to Springwood Park in Parksville.  We will meet at Parksville Bay at the Lion's Playground parking area in Parksville at 9:00 a.m. or at the west end of Despard Avenue, at about 9:10 a.m. 

.************************************************************************************* 

The Sunday Bird Walk on April 21, 2013, will be going to Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo. We will meet at the bird store at 9:00 a.m. or at the end of Raines Road in Nanaimo at about 9:30 A.M.

************************************************************************************ 

Here is an interesting website re-the Coastal Tar Sands-

http://coastaltarsands.ca/w1/

 

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