Nanaimo bird report, March 29, 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, March 29, 2015:

The Sunday bird walk went to Neck Point Park in Nanaimo. Light rain and strong winds off the wild Strait of Georgia greeted us as we started our walk.  Hooded Mergansers, Red-breasted Mergansers and Common Merganser were swimming in the well protected bay of Sunset Beach. The male Red-breasted Mergansers were doing their courting dance and royally entertained us. We heard and saw a Ruby-crowned Kinglet singing and feeding near the trail giving us great looks.  Over one hundred Harlequin Ducks were resting out of the wind on the big rocks near the shore. Two pair of Barrow’s Goldeneye were riding the high waves near shore. 

Harlequin Ducks: Ralph Hocken Photo. 

Nine birders saw and heard the following thirty-seven species:

Trumpeter Swan

Canada Geese

Mallard

  Bufflehead

Surf Scoter

Barrow’s Goldeneye

Harlequin Duck

Hooded Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

Common Merganser

Double-crested Cormorant

Pelagic Cormorant

Black Oystercatcher

Bald Eagle

California Gull

Thayer’s Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

Common Raven

Northwestern Crow

European Starling

American Robin

Hermit Thrush

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Golden-crowned Kinglet

 Anna’s Hummingbird

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Brown Creeper

Pacific Wren

Bewick's Wren

Spotted Towhee

Song Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Red-winged Blackbird

Pine Siskin

 

Red-breasted Merganser: Ralph Hocken Photo. 

Tuesday, March 24:

The Tuesday bird walk went to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. The morning was mostly sunny and the Strait of George was as smooth as glass.  A Rufous Hummingbird caught our attention at the start of the walk--the first of many Rufous Hummingbirds that we saw on the walk. A Pacific Wren was singing as we started walking the trail.  Ruby-crowned Kinglets were singing their melodious song and feeding along the trail for most of the morning. Two Tree Swallows were flying low overhead.  Many flocks of Brant were flying up the Strait.  Hundreds of Pacific Loons were on the water far off shore. A Brandt’s Cormorant and a Pelagic Cormorant were swimming together off shore to give us a good comparison.        

 Eleven birders saw and heard the following fifty-seven species:

Canada Geese

Brant

American Wigeon

Eurasian Wigeon

Mallard

Northern Pintail

Green-winged Teal

Harlequin Duck

Surf Scoter

White-winged Scoter

Bufflehead

Greater Scaup

Lesser Scaup

Common Goldeneye

Barrow’s Goldeneye

Common Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

Pacific Loon

Common Loon

Common Murre

Red-necked Grebe

Horned Grebe

Double-crested Cormorant

Brandt’s Cormorant

Pelagic Cormorant

Black Oystercatcher

Killdeer

Great Blue Heron

Belted Kingfisher

Bald Eagle

Mew Gull

California Gull

Thayer's Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

Steller’s Jay

Northwestern Crow

Common Raven

Tree Swallow

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Orange-crowned Warbler

Pacific Wren

Bewick’s Wren

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Rufous Hummingbird

Anna’s Hummingbird

European Starling

Spotted Towhee

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Fox Sparrow

Red-wing Blackbird

Dark-eyed Junco

House Finch

Pine Siskin  

 Friday, March 20: 

Eight Black-Bellied Plover, over two hundred and fifty Dunlin and hundreds of Bufflehead, Northern Pintail and Brant Geese were seen offshore at Parksville Bay in Parksville. 

Two Greater White-fronted Geese and a juvenile Snow Goose were seen along the road at Parksville Bay beach. 

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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 March 31 will be going to Columbia Beach.  Meet at the Parksville Community Park playground parking lot at 9 a.m. or at the parking area off Admiral Tryon Bld. at about  9:15 a.m.
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There will be no Sunday bird walk on Easter Sunday, March 05, 2015.

Happy Easter!!!

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The Sunday bird walk on Sunday, March 12 will be going to Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo.

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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