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 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 August 23, 2009:
The Sunday Bird Walk went to Neck Point Park in Nanaimo
The morning was sunny but windy. Highlights included seeing a Great Horned
Owl at two different locations. We saw two Spotted Sandpipers, one
Semipalmated Sandpiper and five Western Sandpipers at Sunshine Beach.
Fifteen birders heard and saw the following twenty-seven species of birds:
Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Turkey Vulture, Great Horned
Owl, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper,
California Gull, Mew Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Black Oystercatcher, Belted
Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Bushtit,
Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Bewick's
Wren, Swainson's
Thrush, American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, House
Finch, Red Crossbills and Pine Siskin.

Over thirty young American Goldfinch were seen in a backyard along Meridian
Way in Parksville.

Anna's Hummingbirds are coming to feeders on Cypress Bowl Place in Nanaimo.

Saturday August 22:
Anna's Hummingbirds are visiting feeders along Eagle Crescent in Nanaimo.

Friday August 21:
A Northern Shoveler was seen on a marsh off Brookwood Drive in Nanaimo.

Thursday August 20:
A Great Horned Owl was seen by Haslam Creek near the Cassidy Inn in south
Nanaimo.

Five Eurasian Collared Doves and two California Quail are visiting feeders
in a backyard in the 700 block of Sanderson Road in Parksville.

Wednesday August 19:
A juvenile Peregrine Falcon was spotted in a large dead Oak tree along the
dike at the west side of Buttertubs Marsh. At the same time there was a very
vocal Merlin in the tree 'next door'. The Peregrine flew out about 80
metres, picked something up off of the surface of the pond, and returned to
the same tree to eat it.

A very vocal Steller's Jay was heard and seen at the west end of Westwood
Lake 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
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The Nanoose Naturalists
Thursday September 10, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
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Arrowsmith Naturalists
Monday September 28, 2009 at 7:30 pm.
Springwood School
Parksville
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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.
**************************************************************
THE TUESDAY BIRD WALK RESUMES ON SEPTEMBER 01, 2009

The Tuesday Bird Walk on September 01, 2009 will be going to the Shelly Road
side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville.
Meet at the Parksville Beach Community Park near the parking area at the
Lion's Playground at 9:00 A.M. or the parking area at the end of Shelly Road
off the oceanside of Highway 19a at about 9:10 A.M.
*****************************************************
The Sunday Bird Walk on August 30 will be going to Columbia Beach.
Meet at the Bird store at 9:00 a.m. or at the parking area off Admiral Tryon
Blvd. (turn off Highway 19a at Columbia Drive across from Windsor Plywood,
follow Columbia Drive to the tee intersection at Admiral Tryon Blvd., turn
right and go about 100 yards and turn left onto the parking area) at about
9:30 a.m.
*******************************************************
Good birding
Neil Robins
Nanaimo
British Columbia