The Backyard Wildbird and Nature Store

                    The Backyard Wildbird and Nature Store

Nanaimo Bird Report

June 22, 2023

“EXPLORE NATURE” --- GO BIRDING:
To report your sightings phone the Store at 250-390-3669 or e-mail us at thebackyard@shaw.ca. Please remember, when reporting a sighting to leave your name and phone number along with the date the species was seen and location of your sighting.
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Female Common Merganser and ducklings (G. Fowler)

Thursday June 22, 2023:

A report of an Arctic Loon was seen in Departure Bay by the ferry terminal.

Pacific Golden-Plover was seen in the Englishman River Estuary by Mariner Way.

Tuesday June 20 , 2023:

The Tuesday birding group went to the Shelly Road side of the Englishman River Estuary. Weather was cloudy and 14C. A few highlights from the walk was watching a female Common Merganser and her seven ducklings swim upstream. A Spotted Sandpiper was heard and seen in the river and a Willow Flycatcher was perched in the open for a great view.

Nine birders saw and/or heard the following 50 species:

Canada Goose

Mallard

Common Merganser

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Cooper’s Hawk

Bald Eagle

Turkey Vulture

Killdeer

Spotted Sandpiper

Short-billed Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

Pigeon Guillemot

Band-tailed Pigeon

Anna’s Hummingbird

Belted Kingfisher

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Warbling Vireo

Pacific-sloped Flycatcher

Willow Flycatcher

Common Raven

American Crow

Violet-green Swallow

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper

Bushtit

Bewick’s Wren

Pacific Wren

American Robin

Swainson’s Thrush

Cedar Waxwing

European Starling

Orange-crowned Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Black-throated Gray Warbler

MacGillivray’s Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Western Tanager

Spotted Towhee

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Brown-headed Cowbird

House Finch

Purple Finch

American Goldfinch 

Pigeon Guillemot (R. Hocken)

Sunday June 18, 2023:

The Sunday birding group went to Neck Point Park. The weather was sunny with some clouds and 14C. A few highlights from the walk was seeing a Pigeon Guillemot in Hammond Bay. Swainson’s Thrush perched for us to see, and a Western Tanager was heard.

Fifteen birders saw and heard the following 33 species:

Canada Goose

Surf Scoter

Double-crested Cormorant

Pelagic Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Turkey Vulture

Bald Eagle

Glaucous-winged Gull

Pigeon Guillemot

Anna’s Hummingbird

Northern Flicker

Warbling Vireo

Pacific-sloped Flycatcher

American Crow

Violet-green Swallow

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper

Bushtit

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Bewick’s Wren

American Robin

Swainson’s Thrush

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Orange-crowned Warbler

Western Tanager

Black-headed Grosbeak

Spotted Towhee

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Purple Finch

Orange-crowned Warbler (J. Morrison)

If you have any birds to report or need help identifying, just email or call the store, thebackyard@shaw.ca or 250-390-3669, toll-free 1-888-808-BIRD (2473).

The Backyard Bird Walks

Our bird walks go out Sunday mornings in Nanaimo and Tuesday mornings in Parksville and Qualicum Beach area, are easy walks that go for two to three hours (back for lunch is the plan). Bring binoculars and a field guide. The walks are weather pending.

Please check our blog (www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com) for any cancelations.

The Sunday and Tuesday Bird Walks will be taking a break for the summer and will resume at the end of summer, early fall.

Let us know what you are seeing, and we will pass it on for others to also enjoy.

Good birding! Colin Bartlett