The Backyard Wildbird and Nature Store

The Tuesday bird walk went to Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park in Parksville. The morning was cloudy with a strong wind off the Strait of Georgia.  We were greeted at the beach by four Black Oystercatchers, hundreds of Brant, Dunlin and Black-bellied Plovers feeding along the shoreline. Further offshore we saw hundreds of Common Murre, Mew Gulls, Thayer’s Gulls, California Gulls and Glaucous-winged Gulls in a feeding frenzy with Sea Lions stirring up the sea.  A flock of singing Red Crossbills landed in a  tree just off the trail giving us great views. Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Golden-crowned Kinglets played hide and seek with us as they fed in the bushes near the trail. We spotted a Dark-eyed Junco in the forest with a mustache of nesting material.  A flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers and two Orange-crowned Warblers were feeding just above us near the end of the walk.  As we were doing the morning tally we spotted Bushtits in the bushes.

                 

                                                  Orange-crowned Warbler: Ralph Hocken Photo:

Nineteen birders including visiting birders from Calgary, St. Albert and Red Deer saw and heard the following forty-two species:

Brant

Mallard

Horned Grebe

Red-necked Grebe

Surf Scoter

Pacific Loon

Common Loon

Double-crested Cormorant

Pelagic Cormorant

Common Murre

Marbled Murrelet

Dunlin

Black-bellied Plover

Black Oystercatcher

Bald Eagle

Turkey Vulture

Mew Gull

Thayer’s Gull

California Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

Common Raven

Northwestern Crow

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Orange-crowned Warbler

European Starling

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Anna’s Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

Brown Creeper

Bushtit

Pacific Wren

Bewick’s Wren

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Golden-crowned Kinglet

American Robin

Spotted Towhee

Dark-eyed Junco

Song Sparrow

Red Crossbill 

 

Black-bellied Plover: Ralph Hocken Photo:

The Tuesday bird walk on April 11, 2017 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.

Good birding

Neil Robins 

THE BACKYARD WILDBIRD & NATURE STORE

314 Metral Drive

 Nanaimo B.C.
V9T-2L8

Phone: 250-390-3669

Fax: 250-390-1633

Email: thebackyard@shaw.ca

Blog: www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com