Lincoln's Sparrow: Jack Lasure Photo.
The Backyard Wildbird & Nature Store
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, name and location of your sighting.
Sunday September 27, 2009:
The Sunday Bird Walk went to the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.
The morning was sunny and windy but very comfortable. Among the highlights of the morning was a spectacular view of a female Northern Harrier hunting over the Estuary field. There were Savannah Sparrows and Lincoln Sparrows on the Estuary throughout the morning. There were an unusually large number of Common Ravens and Northern Flickers in the area.
Twenty-one birders heard and saw the following thirty-two species of birds:
Trumpeter Swan, Canada Goose, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Common Merganser, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Turkey Vulture, Killdeer, Mew Gull, California Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Downy Woodpecker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, American Robin, European Starling, Spotted Towhee, Savannah Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow,
Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Purple Finch, House Finch and American Goldfinch.
Saturday September 26:
An Adult Bald Eagle was seen slowly soaring low over a yard as nine California Quail arrived in the back yard in the 2500 Block of Glenayr Drive in Nanaimo.
Wednesday September 23:
A Barred Owl was seen perched on a tree behind a deck, for at least an hour, on Protection Island.
Tuesday September 22:
The Tuesday Bird Walk went to Rathtrevor Provincial Park in Parksville.
The tide was high and the sea was calm; the winds were calm and the sun was shinning making a great morning to be birding. The highlights of the morning included seeing two Western Grebes, three Pelagic Cormorants, a Pacific Loon and several Glaucous-winged Gulls in a small feeding frenzy on the water. We saw a Brandt's Cormorant and a raft of Surf Scoters on the Strait of Georgia. We spotted a flock of singing Red Crossbills on the top of a fir tree.
Eleven birders saw and heard the following thirty-five species of birds:
Canada Goose, Mallard, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Western Grebe, Brandt's Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Killdeer, Bonaparte's Gull, Mew Gull, Ring-billed Gull, California Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Marbled Murrelet, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, American Robin,
European Starling, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow,
Purple Finch, House Finch, Red Crossbill
Sunday September 20:
A Sharp-shinned Hawk was spotted scouting for prey at a bird feeder on Woodthrush Place 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-- Bruce Whittington, will be presenting a slide show on the
beautiful Haida Gwai.
Monday September 28, 2009 @ 7:30 pm.
Springwood School
Parksville
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The Nanoose Naturalists
Thursday October 08, 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 September 29, 2009 will be going to the Little Qualicum River Estuary in Qualicum Beach.
Meet at the Parksville Beach Community Park near the parking area at the Lion's Playground at 9:00 A.M. or the viewing tower at highway 19a and Garrett Road in Qualicum Beach at about 9:20 A.M.
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The Sunday Bird Walk on October 04 will be going to the Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo
Meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 A.M. or at the Buttertubs Marsh parking area off Bowen 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
