Parksville/Qualicum Beach Tuesday bird walk, January 31, 2017

Parksville/Qualicum Beach Tuesday Bird Walk.

The Tuesday bird walk on January 31, 2017 went to Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park in Parksville. The morning was mostly sunny with calm winds, although the Strait of Georgia was a little rough and the tide was high. We saw sixty Brant Geese, hundreds of Dunlin, six Black Turnstones, twelve Black-bellied Plovers and one Black Oystercatcher all feeding along the tide line not far from us. We saw Wing-winged Scoters, Bufflehead, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Common Goldeneye, Long-tailed Duck, Common Mergansers, Red-breasted Mergansers, Pacific Loons and Common Loons further off shore. A Red-breasted Sapsucker flew across the road and landed in a tall conifer. A Hermit Thrush was spotted in the grass and then flew into a bushy area.  We spotted the Thrush again at the edge of a bush where it stayed for a long time giving us all excellent views.

 

Hermit Thrush: John Purves Photo.

 


 Twenty-two birders including a visiting birder from Finland saw and heard the following forty-eight species:

Canada Geese 

Brant

Harlequin Duck

Greater Scaup

Surf Scoter

Wing-winged Scoter

Bufflehead

Barrow’s Goldeneye

Common Goldeneye

Long-tailed Duck

Common Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

Pacific Loon

Common Loon

Western Grebe

Horned Grebe

Red-necked Grebe

Pelagic Cormorant

Double-crested Cormorant

Marbled Murrelet

Common Murre

Mew Gull

Thayer's Gull

California Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

Dunlin

Black Turnstone

Black-bellied Plover

Black Oystercatcher

Bald Eagle

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Northern Flicker

Northwestern Crow

Common Raven

American Robin

Hermit Thrush

Anna’s Hummingbird

Brown Creeper

Bewick’s Wren

Pacific Wren

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Spotted Towhee

White-crowned Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Song Sparrow 

Dunlin: Ralph Hocken Photo. 

The Tuesday bird walk on February 07, 2017 will be going to Deep Bay. Meet at the Parksville Community Park at the parking lot near the Lions Club Playground at 9:00 a.m. or at the Deep Bay Marine parking lot at about 9:30 a.m. 

Good birding

Neil Robins

Parksville

 

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