Subject: [Tweeters] Nanaimo bird alert
Date: Jun 15 15:27:29 2008
From: The Backyard - thebackyard at shaw.ca


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
or www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com

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

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

Sunday,June 08, 2008
The Sunday bird walk went to Neck Point in Nanaimo. Among the highlights was
the sighting of a Great Horned Owl that was being mobbed by a murder of
Northwestern Crows and American Robins. We spotted a Western Wood Pewee
perched on a snag and then watched as it flew about flycatching. We saw the
bird for several minutes before it flew away singing his "breerr" song.
A couple of Black-throated Gray Warblers caught our attention as they flew
and landed on a short bush near the trail and began preening themselves. We
heard a Warbling Vireo singing and then spotted him gleening insects off a
nearby tree.
Twelve birders found the following thirty-nine species of birds:
Canada Goose, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Bald Eagle,
Osprey, Turkey Vulture, Great Horned Owl, Black Oystercatcher, Thayer's
Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Rufous Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Northern
Flicker, Violet-green Swallow, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Western Wood Pewee,
Blacked-throated Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Warbling Vireo,
Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted
Nuthatch, Bewick's Wren, Winter Wren, Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned Kinglet,
Cedar Waxwing, Swainson's Thrush, American Robin, European Starling, Spotted
Towhee, Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Red
Crossbill, Brewers Blackbird, House Finch, Pine Siskin and American
Goldfinch.

Two white (partial albino) Common Ravens were seen in among several Common
Ravens at the Qualicum Civic Center Park in Qualicum Beach.

Friday, June 13:
A white (partial albino) Common Raven was seen off Jones Street in Qualicum
Beach.
A Western Wood-pewee was seen along Renz Road near the Coldwater Farm in
Parksville.

Tuesday, June 10:
A Vesper Sparrow was seen at the Gravel Pit on the south side of
Nanaimo-Cassidy Airport in south Nanaimo.

A Red-Breasted Sapsucker was seen on Birch Trees in the 2800 block of Shady
Mile Way in Nanaimo.

Monday June 09:
A Rusty Blackbird was spotted in with Brewer's Blackbirds at feeders in the
100 block of Meridian Way in Parksville.

Sixteen Black Swifts were seen over Rivers Edge area behind the Government
Weigh Scales in Parksville.

Sunday June 08:
Purple Martins and Rough-winged Swallows were seen at Cottle Lake off
Hammond Bay Road in Nanaimo.

Friday June 06:
An American Dipper was seen in a little stream near Yambury Road and
Butterball Drive in French Creek.

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
***********************************
Arrowsmith Naturalists
Monthly Meeting,
Monday June 23, 2008 at 7:30 pm.
Springwood School
Parksville
**************************************
The Nanoose Naturalists
Monthly Meeting
Thursday July 10, 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 Backyard Wildbird & Nature Store's weekly bird walk in the
Parksville/Qualicum Beach area on Wednesday mornings will not be held during
the summer months. We will resume the Wednesday bird walks in the fall.
*****************************************
The Sunday Bird Walk on June 22, 2008, will be going to Hemer Provincial
Park in Cedar.
Meet at the Bird Store at 9:00 A.M. or at the Parking Lot at Hemer Park off
Hemer Road about 9:30 A.M.
**************************************

Good birding
Neil Robins
Nanaimo
British Columbia