Parksville/Qualicum Beach Tuesday bird walk, March 10,2015

“Birding in the Fog” 

The Tuesday bird walk went to Rathtrevor Provincial Park in Parksville. The morning was foggy and the winds were calm. Over one thousand  Dunlin, one hundred Black-bellied Plovers and four Black Oystercatchers were feeding along the tide line and in the tide pools on the shore side of the fog bank. We counted twenty-six Brant also feeding along the tideline. Thousands of  Mew Gulls, California Gulls, Thayer's Gulls, Glaucous-winged Gulls and one Bonaparte's Gull were roosting on a gravel bar just offshore.  Fourteen  Horned Grebes and one Eared Grebe were spotted further swimming offshore. Four Varied Thrush were singing and perched in the forest.    

                                                                       

   

    Dunlin : Ralph Hocken Photo. 

Six birders saw and heard the following thirty-five species;

Brant

 American Widgeon

 Mallard

 White-winged Scoter 

Bufflehead

 Common Goldeneye

 Common Merganser

 Eared Grebe

 Horned Grebe

 Red-necked Grebe

 Bald Eagle

Bonaparte's Gull

 Mew Gull

 California Gull

 Thayer's Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

 Dunlin

Black-bellied Plover

  Black Oystercatcher

 Northern Flicker

Pileated woodpecker

 Northwestern Crow

 Common Raven

 Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Anna’s Hummingbird 

 Pacific Wren

 Bewick’s Wren

 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

American Robin

 Varied Thrush

 European Starling

 Spotted Towhee

Song Sparrow

 Golden-crowned Sparrow

 Dark-eyed Junco

 

   

                       Eared Grebe: Ralph Hocken Photo.   

 

                                        

                                                          Horned Grebe: Ralph Hocken Photo.

 

 

The Tuesday bird walk on March 17 will be going to the Little Qualicum River Estuary in Qualicum Beach.

Good birding

Neil Robins

Parksville