Nanaimo bird report, June, 14, 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, June 14, 2015:

The Sunday bird walk went to Springwood Park in Parksville.  The morning was sunny and warm—in the forest was cooler.  The highlights included hearing a Red-eyed Vireo singing and then spotted him high up in a tall tree--a great sighting!   A Swainson's Thrush perched on a snag near the trail. Black-throated Gray Warblers, Orange-crowned Warblers, Yellow Warblers,

 McGillivray's Warblers and Wilson's Warblers were heard and then seen throughout the morning. Two California Quail were on the middle of train tracks. Northwestern Crow was mobbing a Red-tailed Hawk high overhead.

 

Red-eyed Vireo: John Purves Photo. 

Thirty-three birders including a visiting birder from Seattle and twelve visiting birders from the United Kingdom saw and heard the following forty-three species:

Canada Geese
Turkey Vulture

Bald Eagle
 Red-tailed Hawk

 Cooper’s Hawk

  Band-tailed Pigeon

 Anna's Hummingbird

 Rufous Hummingbird

Northern Flicker

 Pileated Woodpecker

 Willow Flycatcher

 Pacific-slope Flycatcher

 Northwestern Crow

  Common Raven

California Quail

Violet-green Swallow

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

 Red-breasted Nuthatch

 Brown Creeper

 Bewick's Wren

 Pacific Wren

 Bushtits

 Swainson's Thrush

 American Robin

Black-throated Gray Warbler

Orange-crowned Warbler

 Yellow Warbler

 McGillivray's Warbler

 Common Yellowthroat

 Wilson's Warbler

Red-eyed Vireo

Warbling Vireo

Cassin’s Vireo

 Western Tanager

 Spotted Towhee

 Brown-headed Cowbird

 Song Sparrow

 White-crowned Sparrow

 Dark-eyed Junco

 Black-headed Grosbeak

 Purple Finch

American Goldfinch

House Finch

 Pine Siskin

 Red Crossbill  

Tuesday, June 09:

The Tuesday bird walk went to the Beaver Ponds at Nanoose Bay. The morning was sunny and warm but cool in the forest. We heard and then saw a Black-throated Gray Warbler feeding high up in the tall trees. A Cassin’s Vireo swooped down giving great views. Warbling Vireos, Willow Flycatcher, Pacific-slope Flycatchers and Western Tanagers were singing throughout the morning.  A female Western Tanager landed in a short bush near us. We spotted a Northern Shrike high up in a tree--a very unusual sighting for this time of the year.  A female Hooded Merganser with four little chicks was swimming and diving on the Beaver Pond—an awesome sighting!  A Wilson’s Warbler was heard high up in the conifer trees. We had close views of a Western Wood-Pewee perched on a snag over the trail.  A Hammond’s Flycatcher flew into the same location giving us more close looks.  Bald Eagles and Turkey Vultures circled high over head for a good part of the morning. Three Turkey Vultures came into our view as they dropped down from the sky just above us.

Female Hooded Merganser: Ralph Hocken Photo.

 

Twenty birders saw and heard the following forty species:

Hooded Merganser

Bald Eagle

Turkey Vulture

Northern Shrike

 Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

 California Quail

 Band-tailed Pigeon

 Rufous Hummingbird

Anna’s Hummingbird

 Willow Flycatcher

 Pacific-slope Flycatcher

Hammond’s Flycatcher

Western Wood-Pewee

 Northwestern Crow

 Common Raven

Black Swift

 Violet-green Swallow

 Red-breasted Nuthatch

 Chestnut-backed Chickadee

 Ruby-crowned Kinglet,
Swainson's Thrush

 American Robin

European Starling

 Orange-crowned Warbler

 Black-throated Gray Warbler

Wilson’s Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Warbling Vireo

Cassin’s Vireo 

 Western Tanager

Spotted Towhee

 Chipping Sparrow

 Song Sparrow

 Dark-eyed Junco

Red-winged Blackbird

 Black-headed Grosbeak

 Purple Finch

 House Finch

  American Goldfinch  

Sunday, June 07:

 An Osprey was seen flying overhead from a deck along Camrest Drive in Nanaimo.

 

                                          Western  Tanager: Ralph Hocken Photo.

Monday, June 22:

 Arrowsmith Naturalists meet at Knox United Church in Parksville at 7 pm.  Tim Goater from VIU Biology Department will speak on Amphibians at 7.30.  More infomation at 752-7588.

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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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 Tuesday bird walk on June 16, 2015 will be going to the Top Bridge Trail in Parksville. We meet at the Parksville Community Park by the Lions Club playground parking lot at 9 a.m. or the parking area on Industrial Way off Highway 19a across from Resort drive at Tuan Road in Parksville at about 9:10 a.m.

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The Sunday bird walk on June 21, 2015 will be going to Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo.  Meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 a.m. or at the parking lot at Buttertubs off Bowen 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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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