Black Oystercatchers: Ralph Hocken Photo.
NANAIMO BIRD REPORT
“GO BIRDING--EXPLORE NATURE”
Please remember, when reporting a sighting, to leave your name and phone number along with the date, the species and location of your sighting.
To report your sightings phone the Store at 250-390-3669 or e-mail us at thebackyard@shaw.ca
Sunday November 06, 2011:
The Sunday bird walk went to Neck Point Park in Nanaimo. The morning was cloudy and cool with a biting wind off the Strait of Georgia.
The highlights included seeing a flock of Pacific Loons off shore. We saw several Common Loons, Bufflehead, Red-necked Grebes and a Horned Grebe close to shore. A large flock of Pine Siskins, a Red-breasted Sapsucker and a flock of Bushtits were seen in the forest.
Eighteen birders saw and heard the following forty species:
Mallard, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Bufflehead, Surf Scoter, Harlequin Duck, Red-necked Grebe, Horned Grebe, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Great Blue Heron, Black Oystercatcher, Bald Eagle, Mew Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, California Quail, Northwestern Crow, Belted Kingfisher, Anna’s Hummingbird, Northern Flicker, Red-breasted Sapsucker, European Starling, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Bushtit, Brown Creeper, Pacific Wren, Bewick’s Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, Varied Thrush, Spotted Towhee, Dark-eyed Junco, House Finch, Song Sparrow, Red Crossbill and Pine Siskin.
Saturday November 05:
Eight Trumpeter Swans were spotted flying south, south east above Parksville.
Thursday November 03:
A Fox Sparrow was heard singing and a flock of California Quail were visiting feeders at the Pacific Biological Station in the 3100 block of Hammond Bay Road in Nanaimo.
Tuesday: November 01:
The Tuesday bird walk went to the Little Qualicum River Estuary in Qualicum Beach. The morning was clear and cool with calm winds. The tide was high. A flock of twenty-one Black Oystercatchers flew in and landed on the rocks right in front of us at the viewing platform off Highway 19A. A massive raft of gulls was further off shore. A raft of Black Scoters was on the ocean near the estuary and further off shore we spotted a flock of Long-tailed Ducks that flew in and landed giving us great views. There was a large flock of Bonaparte's Gulls near shore, one of them was still in breeding plumage. A flock of twenty-three singing Trumpeter Swans flew in low over the mouth of the river. They went past us giving us excellent views. We saw over thirty Bald Eagles perched, flying and circling high overhead during the morning. A female Northern Harrier flew low over the estuary, while eight Great Blue Herons lifted from the estuary at the end of the walk.
Fourteen birders saw and heard the following forty species:
Canada Geese, Trumpeter Swan, American Wigeon, Mallard, Green-winged Teal, Greater Scaup, Harlequin Duck, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Barrow's Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron,Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Black-bellied Plover, Killdeer, Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstone, Bonaparte's Gull, Mew Gull, California Gull,Herring Gull, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Steller's Jay, Northwestern Crow, Song Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco and Red-winged Blackbird.
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Nanoose Naturalists Meeting
Thursday, November 10 at 7 pm.
@ The Library Centre along Northwest Bay Road, Nanoose Bay
Guest Speaker-- Nick Raeside will speak on “The Use of Fire as a Forest Management Tool.
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Arrowsmith Naturalist Meeting
Monday, November 28 at 7:30 pm.
Springwood Middle School, Parksville.
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Everyone is invited 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 08 will be going to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville. We will meet at Parksville Community Park at the parking lot near the Lions Playground at 9:00 A.M. or at the corner of Plummer Road and Shorewood Drive in Parksville at about 9:10A.M.
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The Sunday Bird Walk on November 13 will be going to the Nanaimo River Estuary in Nanaimo. We will meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 A.M. or at the end of Raines Road at about 9:30 A.M.
Good birding
Neil Robins
THE BACKYARD Wildbird & Nature Store
6314 Metral Drive, Nanaimo, BC V9T 2L8
250-390-3669
thebackyard@shaw.ca
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG---> www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com
The Purple Martin charity dinner and silent auction:
Come join us on Saturday, November 12 at the Coast Bastion in Nanaimo for "A Night in Brazil" charity dinner and silent auction for the BC Purple Martin Recovery Program. We are celebrating the most successful year of the 25-year nest box recovery program (730 pairs up from 5 pairs in 1985) and the fall migration of our Purple Martins to SE Brazil, a 11,000 km trip one way as well as raising funds for the 2012 recovery program.
Guest speakers:
Tony Ransom, retired geologist and current President of the Nanoose Naturalists, on " A Tour of Brazil's Pantanal - the World's Largest Freshwater Wetland"
Mike Yip, well known Bird Photographer, on "Migratory Birds on Vancouver Island"
No Host Bar at 5 pm with a buffet dinner at 6 pm. Tickets: $60/person (includes a $23 donation) available at the Backyard Wildbird and Nature Store in Nanaimo or by emailing Charlene at gbears@island.net. Advance purchase of tickets required.
