Parksville/Qualicum Beach Tuesday bird walk, May 08, 2018

  Parksville/Qualicum Beach Tuesday Bird Walk, May 08, 2018 

  The Tuesday bird walk went to Little Qualicum River Fish Hatchery with a brief stop at the Brant Viewing Tower in Qualicum Beach.  The morning was sunny. The walk was two and a half miles long, taking two hours and fifty minutes. Two Blue-wing Teal, White-winged Scoters, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser and Pacific Loons in breeding plumage were seen offshore at the viewing platform.  We saw an American Dipper feeding it’s young at the fish hatchery.  We heard a Western Tanager singing and a Swanson’s Thrush calling near the trail.  A Red-breasted Sapsucker was spotted near the trail.  A Yellow-rumped Warbler, a Warbling Vireo and an Orange-crowned Warbler were seen in a tall Big-leaf Maple tree.  We heard and saw and heard Pacific-slope Flycatchers, Hammond’s Flycatchers and Willow Flycatchers through out the morning.  Six Turkey Vultures flew over head at the end of the walk.

                                         Western Tanager: Ralph Hocken Photo:                                   

                         Eighteen birders saw and heard the following fifty-three species:

Harlequin Duck

Blue-wing Teal

White-winged Scoter

Common Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

Common Murre

Pacific Loon

Common Loon

 Red-necked Grebe

  Great Blue Heron

Turkey Vulture

Bald Eagle

Red-tailed Hawk

American Dipper

Iceland Gull

Mew Gull

Ring-billed Gull

California Gull

Glaucous-wing Gull

Belted Kingfisher

Eurasian-collared Dove

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

Northwestern Crow

Violet-green Swallow

Barn Swallow

Tree Swallow

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Pacific Wren

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

American Robin

Rufous Hummingbird

Swanson’s Thrush

European Starling

Western Tanager

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Black-throated Grey Warbler

Orange-crowned Warbler

Wilson’s Warbler 

 Yellow Warbler

Cassin’s Vireo

Warbling Vireo

                                            Pacific-slope Flycatcher

Hammond’s Flycatcher

Willow Flycatcher

Spotted Towhee

Chipping Sparrow

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

House Finch

Purple Finch 

American Goldfinch

 

Willow Flycatcher: Ralph Hocken Photo:

Please Note
Check this site (www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com) early Tuesday and Sunday on stormy mornings to see if the walks have been cancelled!

The Sunday Bird Walk on May 13, 2018 will be going to the Beaver Ponds in Nanoose Bay.  Meet at the Bird store at 9:00 am or at the Beaver Ponds parking area (Take Highway 19 to Northwest Bay Road go to Power Point Road, follow Power Point Road to the four way stop and  then go about one hundred yards to the parking area on the left) at  about 9:20 am.

The Tuesday Bird Walk on May 15, 2018 will be going to the Top Bridge Trail in Parksville.  Meet at the Parksville Community Park (near the Lions Club playground parking lot) in Parksville at 9:00 am, or at the top bridge trail entrance (look for sign) at Industrial Way and Tuan Road at about 9:10 am.

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

www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com