Parksville/Qualicum Beach Tuesday bird walk, October 24, 2017

The Tuesday bird walk went to the Englishman River Estuary on the Shelly Road side in Parksville.. The morning was clear and sunny with calm winds, making for a very pleasant bird walk.  We had great views of a Great Horned Owl watching us as he perched next to the trunk of a tall tree just off the trail.  Golden-crowned Kinglets and Ruby-crowned Kinglets were seen feeding on the trees along the trail.  We were entertained royally by the five Woodpecker species on the island during morning.  A Pileated Woodpecker was perched at the top of a tall tree, six Northern Flickers were seen throughout the morning, a Red-breasted Sapsucker flew in to give us a quick view, a Downy Woodpecker was seen feeding on the trunk of a tree and two Hairy Woodpeckers, one we had closeup looks at as he was pecking at a log on the ground just off the trail and the other was feeding on a deciduous tree trunk.  Four Eurasian Wigeons were in with a very large flock of American Wigeons.

Eurasian Wigeon: Ralph Hocken Photo:

Thirteen birders saw and heard the following fifty-four species:

Canada Goose

Eurasian Wigeon 

American Wigeon 

Mallard 

Northern Pintail 

Harlequin Duck

Greater Scaup

Green-wing Teal 

Gadwall

White-winged Scoter

Common Merganser 

Red-breasted Merganser

 Pacific Loon 

Common Loon

Horned Grebe 

Red-necked Grebe

Double-crested Cormorant 

Great Blue Heron 

Bald Eagle 

Great Horned Owl

Killdeer

Mew Gull

California Gull 

Iceland Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull 

Anna's Hummingbird 

Belted Kingfisher 

Pileated Woodpecker

Northern Flicker 

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Steller's Jay 

Northwestern Crow 

Common Raven

California Quail 

Chestnut-backed Chickadee 

Red-breasted Nuthatch 

Pacific Wren 

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet 

Bushtit

Brown Creeper

American Robin

European Starling 

Spotted Towhee 

Fox Sparrow  

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow 

Golden-crowned Sparrow 

Dark-eyed Junco 

Red-winged Blackbird 

Brewer's Blackbird 

House Finch

Great Horned Owl: Hans Laue Photo:

The Tuesday Bird walk on October 31, 2017, will be going to the Lot Ten in Qualicum Beach. Meet at the Parksville Community Park (at the parking lot in front of the Lions Club Playground) at 9:00 a.m. or at Brandt viewing platform(off highway 19a in north Qualicum Beach) at about 9:20 a.m.

Good birding 

Neil Robins

THE BACKYARD WILDBIRD & NATURE STORE

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Phone: 250-390-3669

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Email: thebackyard@shaw.ca

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