Parksville/Qualicum Beach Tuesday bird walk, December 05, 2017

Tuesday bird walk December 05, 2017:

Finally it wasn’t raining and the Tuesday bird walk went to Columbia Beach in French Creek! Third try lucky!  The morning was cloudy with calm winds. A Merlin was spotted perched high up in a tall snag. Several flocks of Surf Scoters, White-winged Scoters, Common Loons and Long-tailed Ducks were seen just off shore. Many flocks of Common Mergansers, Red-breasted Mergansers and Pacific Loons were seen further offshore. Eight Brant Geese were seen heading down the Strait of Georgia.  Flocks of Ancient Murrelets and Common Murre were seen heading up the Strait all morning.  We spotted a Fox Sparrow, a Song Sparrow, four Varied Thrush and four White-crowned Sparrows just off the trail.  Looking towards the horizon from French Creek, we were entertained by two Hump-backed Whales for fifteen minutes as they spouted and came in and out of the ocean. 

                                                            Merlin: Ralph Hocken Photo.

Eleven birders saw and heard the following forty-nine species:

Trumpeter Swan

Canada Geese

Brant

Harlequin Duck

American Wigeon

Mallard

Surf Scoter 

 White-winged Scoter

Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead 

 Common Goldeneye

 Common Merganser 

 Red-breasted Merganser

Pacific Loon
Common Loon

 Horned Grebe

 Red-necked Grebe

 Double-crested Cormorant

 Pelagic Cormorant

Pigeon Guillemot

Ancient Murrelet

Common Murre

 Bald Eagle

Merlin

Greater Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

Black-bellied Plover

 Black Oystercatcher

Dunlin

 Black Turnstone

 Mew Gull

 California Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Iceland Gull

 Glaucous-winged Gull 

 Eurasian-collared Dove 

 Northern Flicker

 Northwestern Crow

Steller’s Jay

Anna’s Hummingbird

 Chestnut-backed Chickadee 

 American Robin

Spotted Towhee

Fox Sparrow

 Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow
House Finch

Dark-eyed Junco

Pine Siskin

Surf Scoters: Ralph Hocken Photo:

The Tuesday Bird walk on December 12, 2017, will be going to the Shelly Road side of the Englishman River in Parksville. Meet at the Parksville Community Park (at the parking lot in front of the Lions Club Playground) at 9:00 a.m. or at the end of Shelly Road on the oceanside of Highway 19A in Parksville at about 9:10 a.m.

Good Birding

Neil Robins

THE BACKYARD WILDBIRD & NATURE STORE
6314 Metral Drive
Nanaimo B.C.
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Phone: 250-390-3669
Fax: 250-390-1633
Email: thebackyard@shaw.ca
Blog: http://thebirdstore.blogspot.ca/