Snow Goose: John Purves Photo.
NANAIMO BIRD ALERT
To report your sightings
phone the Store at 250-390-3669
e-mail us at thebackyard@shaw.ca
call the Bird Alert at 250-390-3029
Also check the birdstore blog for the latest bird alerts and updates:
www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com
Post your sightings on this site:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bcbirdingvanisland/messages
Birds of British Columbia:
http://www.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/efauna/SpeciesChecklists.html
International Birdwatching Guides
http://www.guidedbirdwatching.com
Birdwatching contacts and information find a local birder to go birdwatching with:
http://www.birdingpal.org/
Please remember, when reporting a sighting, to leave your name and phone number, along with the date and location of your sighting.
Sunday November 15, 2009:
The Sunday Bird Walk went to Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo.
The rain fell all morning and it was very windy. The highlights included seeing a Barred Owl perched in full view on a branch. A small flock of unidentified Shorebird flew over us. A Wilson's Snipe circled around us for several minutes.
Five birders heard and saw the following twenty-seven species of birds:
Canada Geese, Mallard, Hooded Merganser, American Wigeon, Gadwall, Wood Duck, American Coot, Pied-billed Grebe, Wilson's Snipe, Great Blue Heron, Barred Owl, Glaucous-winged Gull, Northern Flicker, Rock Pigeon, Varied Thrush, American Robin, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, American Goldfinch, Pine Siskin, Dark-eyed Junco, House Finch and House Sparrows.
A first fall female Common Yellowthroat was seen in a backyard in Columbia Beach.
Saturday November 14:
Three Trumpeter Swans were seen flying over a field off highway 19, between Nanoose Bay and Parksville.
One Brant Goose was seen at the Parksville Beach Community Park in with a flock of American Wigeon.
One Snow Goose was seen in with a flock of Canada Geese at Winchelsea School Grounds along Renz Road in Parksville.
Steller's Jays and Anna's Hummingbirds are visiting feeders along Benson View Road opposite Witchcraft Lake in Nanaimo.
An American Dipper was seen in a stream that runs into Witchcraft Lake in Nanaimo.
A Chukar was seen alongside Church Road by the three-way stop in Parksville.
Four Steller's Jays and Anna's Hummingbirds are visiting feeders in the 4600 block of Lost Lake Road in Nanaimo.
An Anna's Hummingbird is visiting feeders along Valewood Drive in Deerwood Estates in north Nanaimo.
Friday November 13:
One Snow Goose and three Cackling Geese were seen in with a large flock of Canada Geese in the Winchelsea School grounds along Renz Road in Parksville.
A Sharp-shinned Hawk was seen scouting the feeders in a backyard along Meridian Way in Parksville.
Thursday November 12:
Three Short-eared Owls, two Northern Harriers, two Eurasian Wigeon and a Northern Shrike were seen at the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.
Four Brant Geese were seen offshore heading south from Yellowpoint in Cedar.
Tuesday November 10:
The Tuesday bird walk went to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. The morning was cloudy with showers but the sea was calm. A Varied Thrush greeted us as we started the walk. The highlights included the sighting of a Red-tailed Hawk perched high in a tall tree overlooking
the estuary and the flooded mudflats. Three Gadwall, four Northern Shovelers and a flock of Dunlin shared the incoming tide on the mud flats. A male and female Long-tailed Duck, Surf, White-winged and Black Scoters, Harlequin Ducks, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Pacific Loons, Common Loons, Horned Grebes, Double-crested Cormorant and Pelagic Cormorant were playing hide and seek with us by diving and popping up out of the water.
Fifteen birders saw and heard the following fifty-one species of birds:
Canada Goose, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Greater Scaup, Harlequin Duck, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Pacific Loon ,
Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Killdeer, Dunlin, Bonaparte's Gull, Mew Gull, California Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Ancient Murrelet, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, American Robin, Varied Thrush, European Starling, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Purple Finch, House Finch and Pine Siskin.
Sunday November 08:
Three Rufous Hummingbirds were seen visiting feeders along Cosgrove Crescent in Nanaimo.
Three Greater White-fronted Geese. three Cackling Geese and two Gadwall were seen at Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo.
For further information on these sightings or for help in identifying a
bird please call The Backyard Wildbird and Nature Store
@ 250-390-3669
Toll Free @ 1-888-249-4145
e-mail: thebackyard@shaw.ca
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Arrowsmith Naturalists
Guest speaker, Haida Bolton will talk about "Camp Uganda, an educational camp in the Wildlife Education Centre for underprivileged Uganda Children and their parents."
Monday November 23, 2009 @ 7:30 pm.
Springwood School
Parksville
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The Nanoose Naturalists
Thursday December 10, 2009 @ 7:00 pm
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
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Everyone is welcome to join us for a 2-3 hour bird walk on the Sunday and Tuesday mornings. We leave from the Store at 9 A.M. Sunday Mornings and go to a different location in and around Nanaimo and from the Parksville Beach Community Park at 9 A.M. on Tuesdays and go to different areas in and around
the Oceanside area.
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The Tuesday Bird Walk on November 17, 2009 will be going to Columbia Beach.
Meet at the Parksville Beach Community Park near the parking area at the Lion's Playground at 9:00 A.M. or at the parking area off Admiral Tyron Bld. at about 9: 15 A.M.
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The Sunday Bird Walk on November 22, 2009 will be going to Neck Point Park in Nanaimo.
Meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 A.M. or at the parking lot of Hammond Bay Road at about 9:20 A.M.
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Good birding
Neil Robins
THE BACKYARD
Wildbird & Nature Store
6314 Metral Drive, Nanaimo, BC V9T 2L8
250.390.3669
250.390.1633 fax
thebackyard@shaw.ca
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG---> www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com
