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Sunday, 21 December 2014

Nanaimo bird report, December 21, 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, December 21, 2014:
The Sunday bird walk went to the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo. The morning was partly cloudy with sunny periods and calm winds.
Highlights included seeing a
Northern Harrier fly low over the field next to the parking area. We had many great looks at a Rough-legged Hawk Perched at the top of a short bush close to us. We saw fourteen Western Meadowlarks with two of them perch on a log looking straight at us giving us awesome views of their bright yellow breasts. A Cooper’s Hawk and two Red-tailed Hawks perched for a long time giving us ample time to study them.

 

Western Meadowlark: Ralph Hocken Photo. 
 

Seven birders saw and heard the following forty-three species:
Trumpeter Swan
Canada Geese
 Mallard
American Wigeon
Bufflehead
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Common Goldeneye
 Northern Pintail
 Red-breasted Merganser
  Common Merganser
  Great Blue Heron
  Bald Eagle
Rough-legged Hawk
 Cooper’s Hawk
 Northern Harrier
 Red-tailed Hawk
 Mew Gull
California Gull
 Thayer’s Gull 
 Glaucous-winged Gull
 Belted Kingfisher
 Northern Flicker
Downy Woodpecker
  Northwestern Crow
 Common Raven
  European Starling
 Western Meadowlark
  American Robin
Bewick’s Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Red-winged Blackbird
 Spotted Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
 Song Sparrow
 Golden-crowned Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
 Dark-eyed Junco
 Purple Finch
American Goldfinch
House Finch 

Rough-legged Hawk with prey: John Purves Photo. 

A Townsend’s Warbler was spotted in a backyard along Kenwill Drive in Nanaimo. 

Tuesday, December 16:
The Tuesday bird walk went to Deep Bay. The morning was filled with light rain and the Strait of Georgia was calm. The highlights included seeing a Eurasian Wigeon in with a huge flock of American Wigeon next to the parking lot. Large numbers of singing Black Scoters along with many White-winged Scoters were not far from shore. Fifteen Long-tailed Ducks, two Marbled Murrelets, two Common Murre and a Pigeon Guillemot were diving and surfacing just off the Point not far from shore giving great views.

Black Scoter: Ralph Hocken photo.

Eighteen birders including a visiting birder from Manitoba saw and heard the following forty-seven species:
Canada Geese
Eurasian Wigeon
American Wigeon
 Mallard
 Harlequin Duck
Greater Scaup
Surf Scoter
 White-winged Scoter
Black Scoter
 Long-tailed Duck
 Bufflehead
 Common Goldeneye
 Common Merganser
 Red-breasted Merganser
Marbled Murrelet
Common Murre
Pigeon Guillemot
 Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Horned Grebe
 Red-necked Grebe
 Double-crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Brandt’s Cormorant
 Great Blue Heron
 Bald Eagle
 Dunlin
 Mew Gull
Thayer’s Gull
California Gull
 Glaucous-winged Gull
 Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Steller’s Jay
 Northwestern Crow
 Common Raven
 American Robin
 Varied Thrush
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
European Starling
 Spotted Towhee
Dark-eyed Junco
Golden-crowned Sparrow
 White-crowned Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
House Sparrow
House Finch
                                                            
                         
                                                   Long-tailed Duck: Ralph Hocken Photo.

 

Thursday, December 18:

A Rough-legged Hawk was seen at the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.
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Sunday, December 28-- The Nanaimo Christmas Bird Count (CBC)
Please contact Rhys Harrison at 248-5305 or
rhysharrison@shaw.ca

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Tofino Shorebird Festival 8th Annual
 
May 1-3, 2015

 


 

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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 December 23, 2014 will be going to the Shelly Road side of the Englishman River in Parksville. Meet at the parking lot near the Lions Club Playground in Parksville Community Park at 9:00 a.m. or at the end of Shelly Road off the Oceanside of highway 19a at about 9:10 a.m.
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The Sunday bird walk on December 28, 2014 will be going to Nanoose Bay. Meet at the Bird Store at 9:00 a.m. or at the beach near the Church Camp off Arlington Road at about 9:15 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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“READ AN INTERESTING NEW BOOK “

THE SEA AMONG US
THE AMAZING STRAIT OF GEORGIA
RICHARD BEAMISH AND GORDON McFARLANE

 
A must read for those of us who live along the Strait of Georgia.
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Good birding
Neil Robins

THE BACKYARD WILDBIRD & NATURE STORE
6314 Metral Drive
Nanaimo  B.C.
V9T-2L8

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