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, May 18, 2008
The Sunday bird walk went to Beck Creek in south Nanaimo. Among the
highlights was the sighting of a Greater Yellowlegs, a Spotted Sandpiper,
over twenty Purple Martins, a Tree Swallow and several Violet-green
Swallows.
Twelve birders saw and heard the following thirty-six species of birds:
Canada Goose, Mallard, Common Merganser, Bald Eagle, Greater Yellowlegs,
Spotted Sandpiper, Glaucous-winged Gull, Band-tailed Pigeon, Rufous
Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker,
Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Violet-green
Swallow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Brown Creeper, Bewick's Wren,
Golden-crowned Kinglet, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Bushtit, Black-headed
Grosbeak, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, European Starling, Wilson's
Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Pacific-sloped Flycatcher, Hammonds
Flycatcher, Western Tanager, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Brown-headed
Cowbird and Pine Siskin.

An American Kestrel and a Red-tailed Hawk were seen at the Ugly Dwarf
Meadows in Nanoose Bay.

Six Bald Eagles, thirty-six Great Blue Herons and three Oystercatchers were
seen at low tide off Jack Point Park in south Nanaimo.

Saturday, May 17:
Five nestling Barn Owls were seen on Gabriola Island.
Two male Blue-winged Teal and four Long-billed Dowitchers were seen at
French Creek.
A Barred Owl and a Cassin's Vireo were seen at the Englishman River, Shelly
Road side in Parksville.
Evening Grosbeaks were seen in Cinnabar Valley in south Nanaimo.
A male Black-headed Grosbeak was spotted just north of the Little Qualicum
River in Qualicum Beach.
Caspian Tern, Common Loon, Pacific Loon, 200 plus Bonaparte's Gull, Bald
Eagle, Barn Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, Mute Swan and a small pod of
killer whales were seen at the mouth of the Campbell River Estuary in
Campbell River.

Friday, May 16
A Western Tanager, a Bullock's Oriole, Townsend's, Wilson's and Yellow
Warblers were seen at Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo.

A Black-headed Grosbeak was seen sitting on a clothesline at Extension,
south of Nanaimo.

Thursday, May 15:
Four Caspian Terns were seen at Biggs Park near the Duke Point Ferry in
south Nanaimo.
A male Black-headed Grosbeak is coming to feeders at Morningstar Golf Course
in French Creek.

Wednesday, May 14:
The Wednesday Bird Walk went to the Beaver Ponds in Nanoose Bay. Twelve
birders found forty-four species of birds during a foggy spring morning.
Among the highlights was the sighting of a Cassin's Vireo on a tree not far
from us just as we were leaving the trail. He had serenaded us all
morning, but we had not been able to see him until then. Hutton's Vireos
and several Warbling Vireos sang all morning as well. We saw seven species
of Warblers including: many Orange-crowned Warblers, a Yellow Warbler,
twelve flycatching Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Black-throated Gray Warbler,
several Townsend's Warblers, a Common Yellowthroat and many Wilson's
Warblers.
Twelve birders found the following forty-four species of birds:
Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Wood Duck, Mallard, Hooded Merganser, Ruffed
Grouse, Great Blue Heron, Band-tailed Pigeon, Rufous Hummingbird, Downy
Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker,
Hammond's Flycatcher, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Cassin's Vireo, Hutton's
Vireo,
Warbling Vireo, Common Raven, Tree Swallow, Violet-green Swallow,
Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bushtit, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper,
Winter Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush,
American Robin, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-rumped
Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Townsend's Warbler, Common
Yellowthroat, Wilson's Warbler, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Chipping
Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Purple Finch, Red Crossbill and
Pine Siskin

An Anna's Hummingbird, a Western Wood-Pewee, a MacGillivray's Warbler, a
Common Yellowthroat, a Wilson's Warbler and a Golden-crowned Sparrow were
seen in Foothills development of Auld's Road in Upper Lantzville.

Forty-eight Pacific Loons were seen off Stephenson Point at the entrance to
Departure Bay in Nanaimo.

Tuesday May 23:
Three Evening Grosbeaks were seen along Lauren Place in Nanaimo.

Monday, May 12:
A Black-headed Grosbeak was seen in the 1100 block of Cloke Road in
Ladysmith.

Sunday May 11:
A male Bullock's Oriole was seen over the river at Eagle Ridge Place in
Qualicum Beach.
Five Caspian Terns were seen at the Campbell River Estuary.

A Yellow-headed Blackbird, Pine Siskins, Northern Flicker, House Finch.
Rufous Hummingbirds. Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Ravens, European
Starlings were seen in a garden in Cedar.

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 May 26, 2008 at 7:30 pm.
Springwood School
Parksville
**************************************
The Nanoose Naturalists
Monthly Meeting
Thursday June 12, 2008 at 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
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 for May 21, 2008 will be going to the Springwood
Park in Parksville. Meet at the Parksville Visitor Centre at Highway 19A and
Northwest Bay Road, near Craig Bay in Parksville, at 9:00 A.M. or the west
end of Despard Road at about 9:20 A.M.
*****************************************
The Sunday Bird Walk on May 25, 2008, will be going Legacy Marsh in upper
Lantzville.Meet at the Bird Store at 9:00 A.M. or under the Hydro lines on
Normarel Drive (off Superior Road) at about 9:20 A.M.
**************************************

Good birding
Neil Robins
Nanaimo
British Columbia