Subject: [Tweeters] Nanaimo bird alert
Date: Feb 17 15:43:33 2008
From: The Backyard - thebackyard at shaw.ca


To report your sightings
please phone the Store at 390-3669
or e-mail us at thebackyard at shaw.ca
or call the Bird Alert at 390-3029

Check out the Audubon site for the Christmas Bird Count results.
http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/hr/

Post your sightings on these sites:
www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bcbirdingvanisland/messages


Please remember, when reporting a sighting, to leave your name and phone
number, along with the date and location of your sighting.

Sunday February 17:
The Sunday Bird Walk went to the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville.
Among the highlights were the sighting of a Lincoln's Sparrow along the
trail ,in the bushes near the Viewing Tower, several flocks of Common Murres
and two Brandt Geese flying by above the ocean.
Twenty-four birders found the following fifty-seven species:
Canada Goose, Brant, Eurasian Wigeon, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern
Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Harlequin Duck, Long-tailed Duck, Surf Scoter,
White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Common
Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Loon, Pacific Loon, Horned Grebe,
Red-necked Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Brandt's Cormorant, Great Blue
Heron, Bald Eagle, Merlin, Red-tailed Hawk, Black Oystercatcher, Killdeer,
Belted Kingfisher, Mew Gull, California Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Marbled
Murrelet, Common Murre, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Northwestern
Crow,
Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bewick's Wren, Marsh Wren, Winter
Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, European Starling, Spotted
Towhee, Lincoln's Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed
Junco, American Goldfinch, Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Purple
Finch, House Finch, Red Crossbill and Pine Siskin.

Saturday February 16:
A slate colored Fox Sparrow, an interior species (morph), was seen at the
Nanaimo River Estuary.

Friday February 15:
A Golden Eagle was observed perching for several hours on a snag in Coombs.

Thursday February 14:
Three Killdeer were seen on the Beach at Transfer Beach in Ladysmith.

A Ring-necked Pheasant and a Wilson's Snipe were seen at the Nanoose
Estuary.

A Northern Saw-whet Owl was seen at the Morrell Wildlife Sanctuary in
Nanaimo.

Wednesday February 13:
The Wednesday Bird Walk went to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman
River Estuary in Parksville. Among the highlights was the sighting of an
Eurasian Wigeon in with a flock of Green-wing Teal in the tall grasses. A
Bewick?s Wren was singing as he perched in a high bush. A male Purple Finch
was singing in a
nearby tree and a little further on a Song Sparrow was singing from a perch.
Spring must be near! An Iceland Gull put in a quick appearance. We all had
a good look at a Merlin who flew into the top of a Fir Tree.
Fourteen birders found fifty-two species.
Canada Goose, Brant, Eurasian Wigeon, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern
Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Greater Scaup, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter,
Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Common Merganser,
Red-breasted Merganser, California Quail, Common Loon, Horned Grebe,
Red-necked Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle,
Merlin, Black-bellied Plover, Black Turnstone, Mew Gull, Thayer's Gull,
Iceland Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Anna's Hummingbird, Northern Flicker,
Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted
Nuthatch, Bewick's
Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, European Starling, Spotted
Towhee, Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Golden-crowned
Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Purple
Finch, House Finch, Red Crossbill, Pine Siskin and House Sparrow.

A Turkey Vulture (the first sighting of the year) was seen over the 2700
block of Barnes Road in Cedar.

A Bewick's Wren, eight Trumpeter Swans and American Widgeon were seen in
fields adjacent to Cottonwood Meadows Golf course in Cassidy.

A Black-headed Grosbeak was seen along Graham Road in Yellow Point.

Tuesday February 12.
A Short-eared Owl was spotted at the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.

Sunday February 10:
A Townsend's Solitaire was feeding on pyracantha berries in a backyard and
a pair of Trumpeter Swans were seen flying west quite low over the 2100
block of Wren Place in Nanaimo.

At least ten Bald Eagles were seen in the trees surrounding the compost
plant near the Ferry Terminal at Duke Point.

Saturday February 09:
A Barred Owl was heard calling in the 800 block of Harewood Mines Road in
Colliery Dam Park in Nanaimo.

A Great Horned Owl called from Nanaimo Lakes Road in Nanaimo.

Thursday February 07:
A Barred Owl was seen along Big Whale Lookout in Nanaimo.

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 February 14, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
**********************************
Arrowsmith Naturalists
Monthly Meeting,
Monday February 18, 2008 at 7:30 pm.
Springwood School
Parksville
**************************************
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 Wednesday Bird Walk on February 20, 2008 will be going to Deep Bay.
We will meet at the Parksville Visitor Centre at Highway 19A and Northwest
Bay Road, near Craig Bay in Parksville, at 9:00 A.M. or at the Deep Bay
Marina at about 9:30 A.M.
*****************************************
The Sunday Bird Walk on February 24, 2008 will be going to Buttertubs Marsh
in Nanaimo.
We will meet at the Bird Store at 9:00 a.m. or at the parking lot off Bowen
Road on Buttertubs Drive at about 9:20 a.m.
**************************************
Good Birding!
Neil Robins
Nanaimo