Parkville/Qualicum Beach Tuesday bird walk, march 29, 2016

he Tuesday bird walk went to the Shelly Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. The morning was partly cloudy with calm winds. We watched in fascination as a Hairy Woodpecker went into a hole in the tree near the trail and started excavating the hole for it’s nest.  Two Downy Woodpeckers were tapping trees nearby.  We had good looks at a Swainson's Hawk flying overhead---an unusual sighting for this area. For the first time this season, we heard and then saw several Orange-crowned Warblers feeding near the trail.  Yellow-rumped Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets were along the trail for most of the morning.  A Band-tailed Pigeon was perched in a tree over the trail--another first of the season bird.

                                                   Rufous Hummingbird: Len Bettam Photo.

Twenty-one birders including a visiting birder from Edmonton saw and heard the following Sixty species:

Canada Goose

Brant

American Widgeon

Eurasian Widgeon

Mallard

Northern Pintail

Gadwall

Green-winged Teal

White-crowned Scoter

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye

Common Merganser

Great Blue Heron

Bald Eagle

Cooper’s Hawk

Swainson's Hawk

Turkey Vulture

Northern Shrike

Mew Gull

California Gull

Thayer's Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

American Coot

California Quail

Band-tailed Pigeon

Violet-green Swallow

Tree Swallow

Steller’s Jay

Belted Kingfisher

Northern Flicker

Hairy Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

Anna’s Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

Northwestern Crow

Common Raven

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Bewick's Wren

Pacific Wren

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Brown Creeper

Bushtit

American Robin

Varied Thrush

European Starling

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Orange-crowned Warbler

Spotted Towhee

Song Sparrow

Fox Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Red-winged Blackbird

Dark-eyed Junco

House Finch

Pine Siskin

House Sparrow

 

                                              Orange-crowned Warbler: Ralph Hocken Photo.

The Tuesday bird walk on April 05, 2016 will be going to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River in Parksville. Meet at the Parksville Community Park at the Lions Club Kids Playground parking area at 9:00 a.m. or at the corner of Plummer Road and Shorewood Drive at about 9:10 a.m. 

Good birding

Neil Robins

Parksville 

www.thebirdstore.blogspot.co