The Backyard Wildbird and Nature Store Nanaimo Bird Report December 10, 2024

 

The Backyard Wildbird and Nature Store

 

Nanaimo Bird Report

December 10, 2024
“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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Mountain Bluebird - female (R. Hocken

Sunday December 8, 2024:

The Sunday Bird Walk went to the Nanaimo River Estuary at the end of Raines Road. Weather was perfect, sunny, 2C, no wind and the tide was high. A few highlights from the walk were Mountain Bluebirds, two were seen. Trumpeter Swans, Eurasian Wigeon and Northern Shrike that was being harassed by an Anna’s Hummingbird.

15 birders saw and heard the following 33 species:

Trumpeter Swan

Mallard

American Wigeon

Eurasian Wigeon

Green-winged Teal

Northern Pintail

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye

Barrow’s Goldeneye

Hooded Merganser

Great Blue Heron

Bald Eagle

Short-billed Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

Anna’s Hummingbird

Belted Kingfisher

Northern Flicker

Northern Shrike

American Crow

Common Raven

Steller’s Jay

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Mountain Bluebird

American Robin

European Starling

Spotted Towhee

Song Sparrow

Fox Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Red-winged Blackbird

Purple Finch

American Goldfinch

A flock of Red Crossbills were heard flying overhead at the corner of Yellow Point Road and Paulson Road, Yellow Point.

Birding Notes:

Christmas Tree for the birds

Decorating a tree for your backyard birds is fun for you and beneficial for them. Any kind of tree can work, from those living around your house to a fake Christmas tree or even just a broken branch. Decorate your chosen tree with seed bells, suet, pinecones filled with peanut butter, and seed trays with your favourite bird seeds. Choose a variety of seed bells like black oil sunflower, peanut halves, and mixed seed bells to attract a wide variety of backyard birds.

 Hang your bells near a branch for birds like sparrows to perch on, as unlike chickadees they don’t enjoy hanging off the seed bell itself. Suet is always a popular choice for birds and it can be especially good in cold weather. If you want to get creative with your suet, take a block and heat it until it’s soft, then flatten it out to about a half inch thick and cool. Once cooled off, use cookie cutters in your preferred shape and hang the shapes in a sack or off of string in your tree. Place some of your suet up against the tree trunk to make it easier for woodpeckers.

 Another fun option is mixing bird seed and natural peanut butter together and smearing it into a pinecone. They look cool and have a high nutritional value for your birds! The bird seed helps the birds more easily digest the peanut butter. Add a sack of peanut halves or other nuts into your tree to give your birds even more variety.

Chickadees and Nuthatches are some of the birds you can spot hanging off the sack and pulling the nuts out to be crushed and eaten. You can also use a flat tray for your nuts or other bird seeds.

 For birds that don’t enjoy bird seed, cut apples into quarters and put near a branch that Robins can perch on. Other fruits and dried nuts can be placed the same way to attract Robins, thrushes, woodpeckers, and juncos.

 You can also make a birdy garland with peanuts in the shell and a piece of string or ribbon. Steller’s Jays and squirrels are very entertaining to watch as they grab the peanuts from the garland.

 Finish off your bird Christmas tree with a dried sunflower head topper that your backyard birds will love.

 Merry Christmas.

 If you have any birds to report or need help identifying, just email or call the store, birding@thebackyard.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 Walk.

The Sunday and Tuesday bird walks will be taking a break over the holidays and will resume in the new year.

Happy Holidays from all of us at The Backyard Wildbird & Nature Store.

 The Backyard Wildbird and Nature Store

Nanaimo Bird Report

December 5, 2024
“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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Gadwall (R. Hocken) 

Tuesday December 3, 2024:

The Tuesday Bird Walk went to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. Weather was sunny with some cloud, no wind, 4C and the tide was high and going out. Highlights from the walk were a Common Redpoll seen near the viewing stand and out on the strait were Marbled Murrelets, Common Goldeneye and a few orcas moving past, close to shore.

16 birders heard and saw the following 44 species:

Canada Goose

American Wigeon

Mallard

Gadwall

Northern Pintail

Green-winged Teal

Harlequin Duck

Barrow’s Goldeneye

Common Goldeneye

Bufflehead

Red-breasted Merganser

Common Loon

Pacific Loon

Horned Grebe

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Cooper’s Hawk

Bald Eagle

Black Oystercatcher

Bonaparte’s Gull

Short-billed Gull

California Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

Marbled Murrelet

Anna’s Hummingbird

Belted Kingfisher

Downy Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Common Raven

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Bewick’s Wren

Pacific Wren

Brown Creeper

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

American Robin

Varied Thrush

Spotted Towhee

Song Sparrow

Fox Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Common Redpoll

Purple Finch

Pine Siskin

Common Redpoll (R. Hocken)

Sunday December 1, 2024:

The Sunday Bird Walk went to Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo. Weather was overcast, 2C, and no wind. A few highlights from the walk was watching a flock of Cedar Waxwings, a Cooper’s Hawk perched in a snag and a couple of Golden-crowned Kinglets that were low and close for us to see.

18 birders saw and heard the following 44 species:

Canada Goose

Mallard

American Wigeon

Wood Duck

Bufflehead

Pied-billed Grebe

Ring-necked Duck

Great Blue Heron

Northern Harrier

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Cooper’s Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Bald Eagle

Merlin

Virginia Rail

American Coot

Glaucous-winged Gull

Eurasian Collared Dove

Anna’s Hummingbird

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

American Crow

Common Raven

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Bushtit

Brown Creeper

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Bewick’s Wren

Pacific Wren

American Robin

Varied Thrush

Cedar Waxwing

European Starling

Spotted Towhee

Song Sparrow

Fox Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Red-winged Blackbird

House Finch

Pine Siskin

House Sparrow

Saturday November 30, 2024:

A small flock of Mourning Doves were visiting a backyard on McGillvary Ave on Gabriola Island.

Birding Notes:

If you have any birds to report or need help identifying, just email or call the store, birding@thebackyard.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 Bird Walk, December 8, 2024.

The Sunday Bird Walk will be going to Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.

Meet at The Backyard Wildbird & Nature Store at 9:00 am or at the end of Raines Road (off of Cedar Road by the bridge) at 9:15 am. Weather cooperating.

The Tuesday Bird Walk.

The Tuesday bird walks will be taking a break and will resume in the new year.

Good birding! Colin Bartlett

 The Backyard Wildbird and Nature Store

Nanaimo Bird Report

November 26, 2024
“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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Common Goldeneye (R. Hocken) 

Tuesday November 26, 2024:

The Tuesday Bird Walk went to Columbia Beach by French Creek. Weather was sunny with a few clouds, cool light breeze out of the north, tide was coming in and 1C. Birds were busy on the water with lots of Bonaparte’s Gull moving up the strait, and military exercises going on. Other highlights were Western Grebe, Long-tailed Duck, Common Murre and Ancient Murrelets.

18 birders heard and saw the following 46 species:

Canada Goose

Cackling Goose

American Wigeon

Mallard

Rick-necked Duck

Harlequin Duck

Common Goldeneye

Surf Scoter

White-winged Scoter

Long-tailed Duck

Bufflehead

Common Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

Hooded Merganser

Common Loon

Pacific Loon

Horned Grebe

Red-necked Grebe

Western Grebe

Double-crested Cormorant

Pelagic Cormorant

Bald Eagle

Killdeer

Black Oystercatcher

Black Turnstone

Greater Yellowlegs

Bonaparte’s Gull

Short-billed Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

Pigeon Guillemot

Common Murre

Ancient Murrelet

Anna’s Hummingbird

Belted Kingfisher

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

American Crow

Bewick’s Wren

Spotted Towhee

Golden-crowned Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

House Finch

Pine Siskin

White-throated Sparrow (R. Hocken)

Sunday November 24, 2024:

The Sunday Bird Walk was canceled due to the weather.

Saturday November 23, 2024:

A White-throated Sparrow was seen at the backyard feeders on Maxey Road and Milestone River.

Tuesday November 19, 2024:

A Western Bluebird was reported in the Hawthorne Park neighbourhood by Buttertubs Marsh. It was only seen briefly as it stopped in a backyard.

Varied Thrush and Steller’s Jay were seen on Arnhem Terrace and Metral Drive.

Birding Notes:

The Christmas side hunt was an old tradition in which participants would pick teams and compete to see who would bring back the biggest feathered bounty.

With the introduction of the Audubon Society came the Christmas Bird Count as they decided counting birds was better than shooting them. The first Christmas Bird Count was December 25th, 1900, and was organized by Frank Chapman. The count had twenty seven participants in twenty five count areas from New Brunswick to Pacific Grove, California, and they counted ninety species with 18, 500 individual birds.

The purpose of the CBC is to help understand the status and distribution of wintering birds. The data is collected from all over North America to give us clues about what birds are doing and where they are.

With urbanization and global warming, birds habits and habitats are changing. By using citizen science projects like the Christmas Bird Count, we can see what the effects are on birds and nature which can give us clues to what may still be in store.

For those unable to head into the field and enjoy the CBC, you can also submit counts for backyard feeders. You can participate by settling yourself in your favourite chair with your drink of choice and a good view of your backyard birds and enjoy the birds. Just remember to log what you see while you relax!

To participate in the Christmas Bird Count and find your count area and date, visit the CBC at www.birdscanada.org.

If you have any birds to report or need help identifying, just email or call the store, birding@thebackyard.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 Bird Walk, December 1, 2024.

The Sunday Bird Walk will be going to Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo.

Meet at The Backyard Wildbird & Nature Store at 9:00 am or at the Second Street entrance by the Miners Shack at 9:10 am. Weather cooperating.

The Tuesday Bird Walk, December 3, 2024.

The Tuesday Bird Walk will be going to the Englishman River Estuary - Plummer Road.

Meet at the Parksville Tourist Information Center parking lot, located by Hwy 19A, Northwest Bay Road and Franklin’s Gull Road in Parksville, at 9:00 am or meet at the trail entrance at the corner of Plummer Road and Shorewood Drive at 9:10am. Weather Cooperating.

Good birding! Colin Bartlett

Sunday Bird Walk CANCELED Nov 24

 Today’s, November 24th bird walk has been CANCELED due to weather.

 The Backyard Wildbird and Nature Store

Nanaimo Bird Report

November 19, 2024
“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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Mallard (R. Hocken) 

Tuesday November 19, 2024:

The Tuesday Bird Walk was canceled today due to the weather.

Monday November 18, 2024:

A report of a white Common Raven seen last week in the area of French Creek and highway 19A.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (R. Hocken)

Sunday November 17, 2024:

The Sunday Bird Walk went to Maki Road Trail, located at the end of Maki Road in south Nanaimo. Weather was sunny with some cloud, 4C, winds calm, and the tide was high. A few highlights from the walk were the Northern Harrier that was seen flying over the estuary near the river. A Ruby-crowned Kinglet put on a show low in a small Arbutus tree and a Bewick’s Wren that perched on a branch in the sun for all to see. Pacific Tree Frogs could be heard along the trail as well.

15 Birders heard and saw the following 38 species:

Trumpeter Swan

American Wigeon

Mallard

Northern Pintail

Bufflehead

Common Merganser

Great Blue Heron

Northern Harrier

Bald Eagle

Short-billed Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

Anna’s Hummingbird

Belted Kingfisher

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Common Raven

Steller’s Jay

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Pacific Wren

Bewick’s Wren

Marsh Wren

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

American Robin

Varied Thrush

Spotted Towhee

Song Sparrow

Fox Sparrow

Savanah Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Red-winged Blackbird

House Finch

Purple Finch

Pine Siskin

House Sparrow

Birding Notes:

Colder nights are on the way and for most of our backyard birds, keeping the bird feeders filled with good seed is a great help, but what about those bird that eat insects and berries like American Robins?

To make sure that these birds also have a supply of food, place a tarp, piece of plywood, or other object on the lawn or garden to create a warm spot, free of snow and frozen soil. To feed the birds, simply move the object and allow the birds access to the unfrozen soil and the insects within. You can also turn the garden soil, about 12" deep, to allow access to insects.

Other foods that can be placed out for robins and thrush are grated suet, apples, blueberries, and cranberries. Towhees and juncos can also enjoy these treats.

If you have any birds to report or need help identifying, just email or call the store, birding@thebackyard.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 Bird Walk, November 24, 2024.

The Sunday Bird Walk will be going to Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo.

Meet at The Backyard Wildbird & Nature Store at 9:00 am or at the Second Street entrance by the Miners Shack at 9:10 am. Weather cooperating.

The Tuesday Bird Walk, November 26, 2024.

The Tuesday Bird Walk will be Going to Columbia Beach in French Creek.

Meet at the Parksville Tourist Information Center parking lot, located by Hwy 19A, Northwest Bay Road and Franklin’s Gull Road in Parksville, at 9:00 am or meet at the sandy beach parking lot located on Admiral Tyron Blvd, located off Columbia Drive and HWY 19A, at 9:15am. Weather Cooperating.

Good birding! Colin Bartlett