The Backyard Wildbird & Nature Store
Nanaimo Bird Alert

To report your sightings
phone the Store at 250-390-3669
e-mail us at thebackyard at 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 these 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, August 24, 2008:
The Sunday Bird Walk went to Holden Creek in the mud and rain. Among the
highlights were the sighting of several flocks of Long-billed Dowitchers
and Western and Least Sandpipers that were all spooked by a Peregrine
Falcon. A Red-tailed Hawk flew over and disappeared into the low lying
clouds.
Four hardy birders found the following nineteen species of birds:
Canada Goose, Common Mergangers, Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail,
Mallard, Great Blue Heron, Red-tailed Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, Barn Swallow,
Violet-green Swallow, Killdeer, Least Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper,
Long-billed Dowitchers, Common Raven, Brewer's Blackbird, European Starling,
Song Sparrow and House Finch.


Saturday August 23:
Fifty Black Swifts, two Common Nighthawks and many Turkey Vultures were seen
over Sooke.

Friday August 22:
" Rare Bird Alert-Manx Shearwater"
A Manx Shearwater was spotted close to shore at Port Renfrew. A little
further off shore were large numbers of Sooty Shearwaters, an adult, light
phase Long-tailed Jaeger, one Fork-tailed Storm-petrel, a few Red
Phalaropes, a large flock of Red-necked Phalaropes, Common Murres,
Rhinoceros Auklets, Pigeon Guillemots, Marbled Murrelets and three Brown
Pelicans.

Thursday August 21:
Twenty-four Common Nighthawks, two Purple Martins, several Barn Swallows
were seen over Sooke.

Over fifty Sooty Shearwaters were seen close to shore near Jordon River.


Wednesday August 20:
Four Purple Martins were seen above the 2500 block of Glenayr Drive in
Nanaimo.

Over twenty Sooty Shearwaters, several Pink-footed Shearwaters, a Buller's
Shearwater, hundreds of Red-necked Phalaropes, a light phase Pomarine
Jaeger, big flocks of Northern Pintails, Green-winged Teal, Common Murres,
Rhinoceros Auklets, a Cassin's Auklet and two Brown Pelicans were seen from
Otter Point on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Tuesday August 19:
Over twenty Black Swifts, large flocks of Steller's Jays and large numbers
of Turkey Vultures were seen flying down the west coast from Port Renfrew to
Sooke.

Three Semipalmated Plovers were seen in with a mixed flock of Least, Western
and Semipalmated Sandpipers on the mud flats at the Englishman River
Estuary, Plummer Road side.

Monday August 18
" Rare Bird Alert- South Polar Skua"
Two South Polar Skuas were seen close to shore at Botanical Beach near Port
Renfrew.
The South Polar Skua nest in the Antarctica. The juveniles undertake a
regular migration into the north Pacific arriving off the coast of British
Columbia in July and August.

" Rare Alert- Crested Caracara"
A Crested Caracara was photographed at Fort Fraser on the Yellowhead
Highway, west of Prince George. The bird was following a farmer cutting hay
on a field near Fort Fraser. The Crested Caracara was feeding on the mice
being kicked up by the hay cutter. It was being mobbed by a flock of Common
Ravens.
The Crested Caracara is normally found in Central America in open savanna or
desert and feeds mainly on carrion it locates by patrolling at low altitude.
The bird has not been observed in that area since, and so has obviously
moved on. Keep an eye out for it in your area!


Several Steller's Jays were seen on Gabriolia Island.

Sunday August 17:
A Baird's Sandpiper, three Pectoral Sandpiper, three Greater Yellowlegs,
Lesser Yellowlegs, Killdeer, Western Sandpipers, Least Sandpiper,
Semi-palmated Sandpiper and Dowitchers were seen at Holden Creek in Cedar.
A Merlin and a Cooper's Hawk were seen in the same area.

Saturday August 16:
" Rare Bird Alert- Blue-winged Warbler"
A Blue-winged Warbler was sighted in Ucluelet. The bird was seen in an area
behind Little Beach on the top of a tall Cedar Tree. It remained in the tree
for several minutes. The Warbler had a blue-gray wings and a black eye line.
The Blue-winged Warbler is usually found in the eastern United States, and
in southern Ontario.

Ten Cedar Waxwings and two Common Nighthawks were seen in this same area at
Ucluelet.

Friday August 15:
A Western Tanager was spotted in the 1700 block of Eglington Road in South
Wellington.


For further information on these sightings or for help in identifying a
bird please call The Backyard Wildbird and Nature Store
at (250) 390-3669
Toll Free at 1-888-249-4145
e-mail: thebackyard at shaw.ca
***********************************
The Nanoose Naturalists
Monthly Meeting
Thursday September 11, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
**********************************
Everyone is welcome to join us for a 2-3 hour bird walk on the Sunday and
Wednesday 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
Visitor Centre in Parksville at 9 A.M. Wednesdays and go to different areas
in and around the Oceanside area.
*****************************************
The Sunday Bird Walk on August 31, 2008 will be going to Buttertubs Marsh in
Nanaimo.
Meet at the Bird Store at 9:00 A.M. or at the parking area off Bowen Road at
about 9:15 A.M.
***************************************
Good birding
Neil Robins
Nanaimo