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,
September 25, 2016:
The
Sunday bird walk went to Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo. The morning was cloudy at
the start but soon turned sunny with calm winds. We spotted an American
Coot on the marsh. A Merlin was perched
on the top of a tall snag giving us great views. A Red-tailed Hawk flew over head and
disappeared as it caught a thermal. A
large flock of Band-tailed Pigeons landed in a tall tree and then flew off. A
Hermit Thrush was seen and heard in a bush
close to the trail.
Fifteen birders
including two visiting birders from England saw and heard the forty-one
species:
Canada Geese
Mallards
Wood Ducks
American Widgeon
Hooded Merganser
Pied-billed Grebe
Ring-neck
Duck
Pintail
Duck
Northern
Shoveller
Gadwall
American
Coot
California
Quail
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Merlin
Red-tailed
Hawk
Northern
Harrier
Rock Pigeon
Band-tailed Pigeon
Eurasian-collared Dove
Northern Flicker
Downy
Woodpecker
Anna’s Hummingbird
Common Raven
Northwestern
Crow
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Orange-crowned
Warbler
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Bewick’s
Wren
Bushtit
American Robin
Hermit Thrush
Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed
Junco
Golden-crowned Sparrow
House
Finch
Purple Finch
Red-winged Blackbird
House
Sparrow
Saturday,
September 24:
American
Pipit’s were seen at Pipers Lagoon in Nanaimo.
Tuesday,
September 20:
Two
Pileated Woodpeckers are visiting feeders in the 800 block of Douglas Street in
Nanaimo.
A
Trumpeter Swan was seen at the Deep Bay Harbour today.
Trumpeter
Swan: John Caddy photo.
Wednesday,
September 21: A White-throated Sparrow was seen just off of Owl Place in Long Lake Heights in Nanaimo.
White-throated Sparrow;
Kyle Palmer Photo:
Tuesday,
September 20:
Parksville/Qualicum
Beach--Tuesday bird walk
The
morning started out with rain showers, but it soon cleared and the sun shone,
brightly. The winds were calm on the Strait of Georgia. A large
flock of Cedar Waxwings and American Robins greeted us at the start of the
walk. We spotted a Townsend’s Solitaire perched high up in a tall conifer tree.
Two Ring-billed Gulls, several Bonaparte's Gulls, Mew Gulls, California Gulls,
Glaucous-winged Gulls and one lone Thayer’s Gull were preening near the
shore. Horned Grebes, Red-necked Grebes, Western Grebes and a Pacific
Loon in breeding plumage were seen further offshore. We were entertained
by a Townsend’s Warbler, a large number of Orange-crowned Warblers and several
Yellow-rumped Warblers in the forest. Many flocks of American Robins were seen
through out the morning. A very large flock of Canada Geese flew high overhead
heading south.
Twenty-three
birders including visiting birders from the United Kingdom, Georgetown Ontario,
Edmonton and Red Deer Alberta saw and hear the following fifty-three species:
Canada
Geese
Mallard
American
Wigeon
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Common
Merganser
Red-breasted
Merganser
Horned Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Western
Grebe
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Double-crested
Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Marbled
Murrelet
Common
Murre
Turkey
Vulture
Belted Kingfisher
Ring-billed
Gull
Bonaparte's
Gull
Mew Gull
Thayer’s
Gull
California Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Northern
Flicker
Pileated
Woodpecker
Northwestern Crow
Common Raven
Chestnut-backed
Chickadee
Brown
Creeper
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned
Kinglet
Hammonds
Flycatcher
Townsend’s
Warbler
Orange-crowned
Warbler
Yellow-rumped
Warbler
Anna’s
Hummingbird
American Robin
Townsend’s
Solitaire
Hermit
Thrush
Cedar
Waxwing
Bewick’s
Wren
Pacific
Wren
European
Starling
Spotted Towhee
Golden-crowned
Sparrow
White-crowned
Sparrow
Savannah
Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Purple Finch
House
Finch .
Monday,
September 19:
Eleven
Turkey Vultures were seen along the shore at Pipers Lagoon in Nanaimo.
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Everyone
is welcome to join us for a 2-3 hour bird walk on Sunday & Tuesday. We
leave from the Store at 9 a.m. on Sunday Mornings and go to a different
location in and around Nanaimo. We leave from the Parksville Community
Park at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday mornings go to a different location in the
Oceanside area.
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The
Sunday bird walk on October 02, 2016 will be going to Rathtrevor Beach
Provincial Park in Parksville. Meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 a.m. or at the main
parking lot at Rathtrevor Park at about 9:30 a.m.
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The
Tuesday bird walk on September 27, 2016 will be going to the Plummer Road side
of the Englishman River in Parksville. Meet at the Parksville Community Park at
the parking lot near the Lions Club Kids Playground at 9:00 a.m. or at the
corner of Plummer Road and Shorewood Drive at about 9:10 a.m.
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Trumpeter
Swan Conference in Duncan
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Reporting Collared Canada Goose Sightings
Hello fellow
birders:
As part of the Vancouver Island University (VIU) Bird Banding
project, we banded and collared 200 Canada Geese around Nanaimo last
June. This banding effort is part of an undergraduate research project by
VIU biology student Stew Pearce, with main objective to determine the
abundance, distribution and movement of geese in the Nanaimo area. The geese
have white neck collars with black lettering that ranges from 000P to 199P.
We are conducting regular surveys to track geese, but we hope to
increase the number of collared goose sightings by encouraging birders and
members of the public to report their sightings through our project website - https://wordpress.viu.ca/gooseproject/.
There is a simple form to fill out to report sightings. We are interested
in any sightings of these geese, whether in the Nanaimo area or elsewhere,
including the number of “uncollared” geese they may associated with.
We appreciate your help with this project. Feel free to
contact us off list to find out more about the project or results so far (stew.pearce@shaw.ca).
Eric Demers, Ph.D., R.P.Bio.
Biology Department
B.Sc. Degree Advisor
Vancouver Island University
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Good birding
