Parksville/Qualicum Beach Tuesday bird walk, June 11, 2013

The Tuesday bird walk went to the Moorecroft Regional Park in Nanoose Bay. The morning was mostly cloudy with a few sunny periods. We were entertained by watching all of the many Anna’s and Rufous Hummingbirds at the feeders near the caretaker’s house.  A pair of Downy Woodpeckers were feeding at the suet feeders there.  A Pileated Woodpecker led us through the first part of the walk, first by chopping on a stump and then leading us for a long distance along the trail, feeding on the ground.  Our scopes gave us great views of a Townsend's Warbler singing at the top of a very tall conifer tree. We saw a lone Marbled Murrelet on the Strait of Georgia riding the waves. We spotted a Varied Thrush feeding in the grass at the meadow.  A Black-throated Gray Warbler, a Cedar Waxwing, a Red-winged Blackbird and a Yellow-rumped Warbler appeared at the marsh to put on a display for us.

             Black-throated Grey Warbler: Ralph Hocken Photo.   

        

Twenty birders, including two visiting birders from Ohio saw and heard the following thirty-five species:

Canada Geese

Turkey Vulture

Bald Eagle

Belted Kingfisher

Marbled Murrelet

Anna's Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

Pacific-slope Flycatcher

Orange-crowned Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Black-throated Gray Warbler

Townsend's Warbler

Northwestern Crow

Common Raven

Brown Creeper

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Pacific Wren

Swainson’s Thrush

Varied Thrush

American Robin

Cedar Waxwing

European Starling

Western Tanager

Red-winged Blackbird

Spotted Towhee 

Chipping Sparrow

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

American Goldfinch

                         Pileated Woodpecker: Ralph Hocken Photo.

The Tuesday bird walk on June 18, 2013 will be going to Lot Ten in Qualicum Beach. 

Good birding

Neil Robins

Parksville