Nanaimo bird report, January 04, 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, January 04, 2015:

                    The Sunday bird walk was cancelled due to the weather conditions! 

Friday, January 02:

Ruby Crowned Kinglets and a Townsend’s Warbler are visiting suet feeders in the 2100 block of Lintlow Road in Nanaimo. 

A Cassin’s Auklet was spotted off shore from Pipers Lagoon in Nanaimo. 

Thursday, January 01:

An American Kestrel was perched on a small tree just south of the flooded fields by Quennell Lake on Quennell Road in Cedar. 

A Cassin’s Auklet was spotted off shore from Pipers Lagoon in Nanaimo. 

Wednesday, December 31:

Eight Evening grosbeaks were seen along Lowry's Road in French Creek. 

A Yellow-billed Loon was seen on the Strait of Georgia off the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River in Parksville

Tuesday, December 30:

The Tuesday bird walk went to Rathtrevor Provincial Park in Parksville. The morning was sunny with calm winds, although it was cool in the forest out of the sunshine. We had a great morning of birding.  We watched a flock of thirty Black-bellied Plovers and about two hundred Dunlin dance in the sky for several minutes and then land on the rocks at the point. When we looked closely at the flock we discovered that there were nineteen Surfbirds in among the flock. Two Brant were just off shore. The group had great views through the scope at a Yellow-billed Loon diving and returning to the surface further off shore. A Pigeon Guillemot, two Marbled Murrelet and several flocks of Common Murre were also seen further offshore.  

Yellow-billed Loon: Ralph Hocken Photo. 

Surfbirds: Ralph Hocken Photo. 

Twelve birders including a visiting birder from New Brunswick saw and heard the following thirty-eight species:

Brant

American Widgeon

Mallard

Harlequin Duck

Greater Scaup

Surf Scoter

White-winged Scoter

Black Scoter

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye

                                                  Common Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

Pacific Loon

Common Loon

Yellow-billed Loon

Long-tailed Duck

Red-necked Grebe

Horned Grebe

Double-crested Cormorant

Bald Eagle

Black-bellied Plover

Black Turnstone

Dunlin

Surfbird

Black Oystercatchers

Glaucous-winged Gull

Pigeon Guillemot

Marbled Murrelet

Common Murre

Northwestern Crow

Common Raven

American Robin

Varied Thrush

                                             Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Pacific Wren

Spotted Towhee

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Song Sparrow 

A Sharp shinned Hawk was spotted flushing out California Quail from blackberry bushes along Lewis Road in Nanaimo.    

Monday, December 29:

Two Great-horned Owls were heard along Morrell Circle in Nanaimo. 

 

Brant in flight: Ralph Hocken Photo.

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18th Annual Tofino Shorebird Festival
May 1-3, 2015
For  information please contact---- 
http://raincoasteducation.org/events/tofino-shorebird-festival
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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 January 06, 2015 will be going to the Little Qualicum River Estuary in Qualicum beach. Meet at the parking lot near the Lions Club Playground in Parksville Community Park at 9:00 a.m. or at the Brant viewing platform in north Qualicum Beach at about 9:20 a.m.
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The Sunday bird walk on January 11, 2015 will be going to Neck Point Park in Nanaimo. Meet at the Bird Store at 9:00 a.m. or at the parking lot at Neck Point off Hammond Bay 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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A must read for those of us who live along the Strait of Georgia.

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

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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