Nanaimo bird report, June 28, 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 28, 2015:

 The Sunday bird walk went to Beck Creek in south Nanaimo. The morning was sunny and hot--a little cooler in the forest. A fledging Barn Swallow was being feed by its parent along the power line near the road. A singing Western Tanager caught our attention as he sang from a perch high up in a conifer. A large number of singing and flying Purple Martins entertained us throughout the morning. Two Cedar Waxwings were perched on the top of a tall conifer tree.

Purple Martin: Ralph Hocken Photo.

Eighteen birders  saw and heard the following thirty-six species:

Canada Geese

 Mallard

Common Merganser

 Great Blue Heron

 Turkey Vulture

 Bald Eagle

 Glaucous-winged Gull

  Band-tailed Pigeon

  Eurasian Collared Dove

Anna’s Hummingbird

Pacific-sloped Flycatcher

 Willow Flycatcher

  Orange-crowned Warbler

  Northern Flicker

  Northwestern Crow

 Common Raven

 Purple Martin

   Violet-green Swallow

Barn Swallow

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

   Red-breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper

 Pacific Wren

Bewick’s Wren

Bushtit

  European Starling

 Swainson's Thrush

American Robin

Western Tanager

 Cedar Waxwing

 Spotted Towhee

 Song Sparrow

 White-crowned Sparrow

Red-winged Blackbird

Purple Finch

 

Tuesday, June 23:

The Tuesday bird walk went to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. The morning was sunny and warm.  A Yellow Warbler was perched above the trail giving us great views.  A Willow Flycatcher was heard singing and then seen perched on the top of a short snag.  We watched as ten Killdeer with three fledglings, six Least Sandpipers, two Western Sandpipers and two Semipalmated Plovers were feeding on the mudflats.  Violet-green Swallows were seen hawking insects over the mudflats.  Turkey Vultures and Bald Eagles were higher in the sky, riding thermos.  We spotted two Marbled Murrelets riding the waves on the Strait.                                                                                                  

Yellow Warbler: Ralph Hocken Photo. 

Nineteen birders including visiting birders from Seattle and Victoria saw and heard the following forty-three species:

Marbled Murrelet
Canada Goose
Great Blue Heron
Common Merganser
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle
Cooper’s Hawk
Killdeer

Least Sandpiper

Western Sandpiper
Semipalmated Plover

Glaucous-winged Gull
Band-tailed Pigeon

Eurasian-collared Dove

California Quail
Rufous Hummingbird

Anna’s Hummingbird
Northern Flicker
Willow Flycatcher
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Northwestern Crow
Common Raven
Violet-green Swallow
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
European Starling
Wilson’s Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Brown-headed Cowbird
Purple Finch

Red Crossbill

House Finch

American Goldfinch

Pine Siskin

Semi-palmated Plover: Ralph Hocken Photo. 

 Monday, June 22.

Two Common Nighthawks were spotted flying over Ladysmith.  

Good birding

Neil Robins

Parksville

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 June 30, 2015 will be going to Lot Ten in Qualicum Beach. We meet at the Parksville Community Park by the Lions Club playground parking lot at 9 a.m. or on the mountain side of Kinkade Road off Highway 19a in north Qualicum Beach at about 9:20 a.m.

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The Sunday bird walk on July 05, 2015 will be going to Neck Point Park in Nanaimo.  Meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 a.m. or at the Neck Point parking lot at off Hammond Bay Road 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