Nanaimo bird report, June 15, 2014

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

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.

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Sunday, June 15, 2014:

The Sunday bird walk went to Beck Creek in south Nanaimo. The morning was cloudy with rain showers.

A Hooded Merganser was seen on the pond with a fledgling on its back. We had great views of six Barn Swallows flying at eye level right next to us at the point of Beck Creek. Purple Martins flew by and sang as they flew. A Warbling Vireo and a Black-headed Grosbeak were singing during the morning.

       Nine birders including a visiting birder from Seattle saw and heard the     following forty-four species:

Canada Goose, Mallard, Pied-billed Grebe, Common Merganser, Hooded Merganser, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture,  Bald Eagle, Glaucous-winged Gull,  Band-tailed Pigeon,  Eurasian Collared Dove,  Belted Kingfisher,  Rufous Hummingbird, Pacific-sloped Flycatcher, Willow Flycatcher,  Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow Warbler,  Warbling Vireo, Downy Woodpecker,  Northern Flicker,  Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow,  Violet-green Swallow, Barn Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee,   Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper,  Pacific Wren,  Marsh Wren,  Golden-crowned Kinglet,  European Starling, Swainson's Thrush, American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, Black Headed Grosbeak, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird and Dark-eyed Junco.   

Tuesday, June 10:

The Tuesday bird walk went to the Top Bridge Trail in Parksville. The morning was cloudy with sunny periods. Six Caspian Terns greeted us at Parksville Beach before the start of the walk. We heard and saw several Willow Flycatchers both at the beginning of the walk and at the end. We heard a Black-headed Grosbeak, Common Yellowthroats, Pacific-slope Flycatchers, Warbling Vireos, and Cassin’s Vireo during the morning making for a morning of birding by ear—a common thing at this time of the year. We spotted an Olive-sided Flycatcher singing at the top of a bush. The bird of the morning however, was hearing and then finally seeing the elusive Red-eyed Vireo singing continually as he perched in a tree high above the trail. 

Twenty-one birders saw and heard the following forty species:

Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Rufous Hummingbird, Northern Flicker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Violet-green Swallow, Tree Swallow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick's Wren, American Robin, Swainson's Thrush, European Starling, Rock Pigeon, Band-tailed Pigeon, California Quail, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, MacGillivray’s Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Willow Flycatcher, Pacific-slope Flycatcher,Olive-sided Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, Cassin’s Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Brown Creeper, Spotted Towhee, Chipping Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Brown-headed Cowbird, Purple Finch, American Goldfinch and Black-headed Grosbeak.      

Saturday, June 14:

 An American Kestrel was spotted on a hydro line along Peterson Road in Rivers Edge subdivision in Parksville.

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Monday, June 23:

Arrowsmith Naturalists

Meet at 7.30 pm at Knox United Church in Parksville.  John Neville, president of BC Nature, will present ‘Raptors of Canada’ with sound recordings and the paintings of Robert Bateman.  All welcome.  Info 752-7588 

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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. on 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.
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The Tuesday bird walk on June 17, 2014 will be going to the Beaver Ponds in Nanoose Bay. Meet at the Parksville Community Park in Parksville at the parking lot near the Lions Club playground at 9:00 am. Or at parking area on Powder Point Road, about 100 yards past the four way stop sign at Anchor (where Powder Point Road becomes Fairwinds Drive.) in Nanoose Bay.

 

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The Sunday bird walk on June 22, 2014 will be going to Legacy Marsh in upper Lantzville.  Meet at the Bird Store at 9:00 a.m. or under the hydro lines along Normarel Drive at about 9:20 a.m.

 

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British Columbia rare bird alert link---
 http://www.bcbirdalert.blogspot.ca/  
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WildResearch link---http://www.wildresearch.ca/

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West coast environment link--

http://coastaltarsands.ca/w1/videos/

 

 

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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