The Backyard's Weekly Bird Walk locations are found in the Backyard Bird Report at the very end of the most recent report. Any cancellations will be posted by 8am the day of the walk.

Tuesday 19 February 2019

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

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