Parksville/Qualicum Beach Tuesday bird walk, December 24, 2013

The Tuesday bird walk went to the Englishman River Estuary, Plummer Road side in Parksville. The morning was cloudy and calm with peaks sunshine throughout the morning.  Nine Trumpeter Swans flew overhead at the community park. We spotted a Northern Shrike perched on a shrub near the river and we watched as it flew out for prey and returned to the perch. Far off shore we spotted ten Common Murre, four Marbled Murrelets, forty Ancient Murrelets, forty Western Grebes, two Pigeon Guillemots and hundreds of Pacific Loons on the Strait of Georgia. A Cooper’s Hawk was perched close to the viewing platform.

 

                                    

                            Cooper’s Hawk: Ralph Hocken Photo.

Eleven birders saw and head the following fifty-seven species.

Canada Goose
Brant
Trumpeter Swan

American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Harlequin Duck
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Bufflehead

Barrow’s Goldeneye
Common Goldeneye
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
California Quail
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Horned Grebe
Red-necked Grebe

Western Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Northern Shrike

Northern Harrier
Cooper’s Hawk
Black-bellied Plover
Black Turnstone

Dunlin

Black Oystercatchers
Mew Gull
Thayer's Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Common Murre
Marbled Murrelet
Ancient Murrelet

Pigeon Guillemot

Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Northwestern Crow
Common Raven
Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
Spotted Towhee

White-crowned Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Purple Finch 

The Tuesday bird walk on December 31 will be going to the Little Qualicum River Estuary in north Qualicum Beach.

 

                                          Northern Shrike: Ralph Hocken Photo.

 

Merry Christmas

Neil Robins

Parksville.