Tuesday bird walk, February19, 2019

Parksville/Qualicum Beach Tuesday bird walk, went to Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park in Parksville, February 19, 2019.

It was great to be out birding again after the snowy weather. The morning was cloudy with calm winds. The highlight of the morning was the sighting of four Surfbirds in with a flock of at least two thousand Dunlin, a large number of Black Turnstones and Black-bellied Plovers along the shoreline—a birding paradise!  A large raft of Greater Scaup and Lesser Scaup were seen offshore in Craig Bay.  A Western Gull, a Common Murre and a Pigeon Guillemot were heading up the Strait of Georgia.  A Brown Creeper and two Golden-crowned Kinglets were seen at the base of a tall conifer tree near the trail.  A Purple Finch was heard singing and then seen perched on a short bush along the trail. 

                                                                        

 Surfbird: Ralph Hocken Photo:

Nineteen birders including visiting birders from Washington State, Alberta and Manitoba saw and heard the following forty-seven species

Brant

Canada Goose
Greater White-fronted Goose 

Mallard
Northern Pintail
American Wigeon

Greater Scaup

Lesser Scaup

Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Bufflehead
Barrow’s Goldeneye

Common Goldeneye
Red-breasted Merganser
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Red-neck Grebe

Horned Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Brandt’s  Cormorant
Bald Eagle
Surfbird

Black-bellied Plover
Black Turnstone
Dunlin

Black Oystercatcher
Common Murre

Pigeon Guillemot

Mew Gull
Iceland(Thayer's) Gull
California Gull

Western Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull
Northwestern Crow
Common Raven
Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

Anna’s Hummingbird

Bewick’s Wren
Brown Creeper

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Spotted Towhee

Song Sparrow
Pine Siskin

Purple Finch

Dark-eyed Junco

A flock of Canada Geese with a Greater White-fronted Goose were seen at the Parksville Community Beach before the walk.

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 February24 2019 will be going to the Buttertubs Marsh in  Nanaimo. Meet at the Backyard Wildbird and Nature Store, 6314 Metral Drive in Nanaimo at 9:00 a.m. or at parking lot at Buttertubs on the Bowen Road side about 9:15 am.

The Tuesday Bird Walk on February 26, 2019 will be going to the Shelly Road side  of the Englishman River estuary in Parksville. Meet at the Parksville Community Park (near the Lions Club playground parking lot) in Parksville at 9:00 am, or at the end of Shelly Road on the oceanside of highway 19a at about 9:10 am. 

Good birding
Neil Robins

THE BACKYARD WILDBIRD & NATURE STORE

6314 Metral Drive

Nanaimo, B.C. V9T-2L8

Phone: 250-390-3669
Email: thebackyard@shaw.ca

www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com