Nanaimo bird report, January 25, 2015

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 25, 2015:
The Sunday bird walk went to the Bowen Park in Nanaimo. The morning was partly cloudy with sunny periods, making for a pleasant walk in the woods.  We spotted Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Golden-crowned Kinglets high in the trees. We heard several Pacific Wrens singing throughout the morning.  A Merlin was perched at the top of a tall snag.  An American Dipper was bobbing on the large rocks in the salmon stream. 

American Dipper; Ralph Hocken Photo. 

                  Seventeen birders saw and heard the following nineteen species:

Mallard

Glaucous-winged Gull

Merlin

American Dipper

 Chestnut-backed Chickadee

 Red-breasted Nuthatch

 Anna's Hummingbird

   Northern Flicker

Steller’s Jay

 Northwestern Crow

 Common Raven

 Rock Pigeon

 Bewick's Wren

 Pacific Wren

 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

 Golden-crowned Kinglet

  Brown Creeper

 American Robin

 Song Sparrow  

Tuesday, January 20:

The Tuesday bird walk went to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. The morning was cloudy with calm winds and calm water on the Strait of Georgia. The highlights of the morning included seeing three Gadwall near the mud flats. American Wigeon, Mallards, Northern Pintails and Green-winged Teal were also feeding on the mud flats. Thousands of Mew Gulls, Thayer's Gulls and Glaucous-winged Gulls were resting behind the mudflats and lifted in a huge cloud as a Bald Eagle flew over. The gulls landed close by giving us all lots of time to study the different gulls at close range.  A large flock of over sixty Brant Geese flew close to shore heading down the strait.

 

Mew Gull: Ralph Hocken Photo. 

Seventeen birders, including visiting birders from Hinton Alberta and Chicago saw and heard the following forty-five species:

Canada Geese

Brant

American Wigeon

Mallard

Northern Pintail

Green-winged Teal

Gadwall

Surf Scoter

White-winged Scoter

                                                           Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye

Red-breasted Merganser

Common Merganser

Pacific Loon

Common Loon

Horned Grebe

Red-necked Grebe

Double-crested Cormorant

Pelagic Cormorant

Belted Kingfisher

Great Blue Heron

Bald Eagle

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Mew Gull

Thayer's Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

Common Murre

Black Oystercatcher

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

Steller’s Jay

Northwestern Crow

Common Raven

                                                  Anna’s Hummingbird

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Bewick's Wren

Pacific Wren

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

American Robin

Varied Thrush

Spotted Towhee

Fox Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

House Finch

 

Northern Pintail: Ralph Hocken Photo. 

An American Pipit was seen in a backyard along Haida Way in the Seacrest  neighborhood of Nanoose Bay. 

Sunday, January 18:

 A Turkey Vulture flew over a large flock of about two hundred very noisy Surfbirds and one Black Turnstone as they were feeding near high tide at Pipers Lagoon Park in Nanaimo.

One hundred Dunlin and one Black-bellied Plover were seen roosting offshore on Shack Islands across from Pipers Lagoon. 

 

Hooded Merganser, Bufflehead, Mallards, Ring-necked Duck, Double-crested Cormorant, Red winged Blackbirds, Dark-eyed Junco, Chestnut -backed Chickadee, Song Sparrow, Golden- crown Sparrow, Bewick’s Wren, Spotted Towhees, American Robins, Northern Flickers, Steller’s Jay and a Bald Eagle were seen at Diver Lake in Nanaimo.

 

Common Mergansers, Harlequin Ducks and Black Turnstones and over one hundred Sea Lions were hanging out off the point by the parking lot at Neck Point Park in Nanaimo.

 

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Tofino-Shorebird –Festival

 

18th Annual 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 27, 2015 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 February 01, 2015 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 Highway 19 and 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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A must read for those of us who live along the Strait of Georgia.

 

“READ AN INTERESTING NEW BOOK “

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