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 February 22, 2009
The Sunday bird walk went to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River
in
Parksville. Among the highlights was the sighting of a Peregrine Falcon
perched on a stump for the whole morning and four flocks of Brant Geese
flying low over the water. We saw many flocks of Common Murre, Surf Scoters
and White-winged Scoters heading down the Strait of Georgia. Rafts of
Red-breasted Mergangers, along with Pacific Loons and Common Loons, were
spotted not far off shore.
Twenty-two rain soaked birders saw and heard the following forty-eight
species of birds:
Canada Goose, Brant Geese, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail,
Green-winged Teal, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Bufflehead, Greater
Scaup, Harlequin Duck, Long-tailed Duck, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's
Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Merganser, Pacific Loon, Common
Loon, Common Murre, Bald Eagle, Cooper's Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, Killdeer,
Black Turnstone, Glaucous-winged Gull, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker,
Pileated Woodpecker, Steller's Jay, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven,
Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned Kinglet, American
Robin, Varied Thrush, European Starling, Spotted Towhee, Fox Sparrow, Song
Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Red-winged
Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Purple Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, Pine Siskin
and House Finch.

Saturday February 21:
A Cinnamon Teal and a Snow Goose were seen at Somanos Marsh in Duncan.

Friday February 20:
A large flock of Cedar Waxwings were spotted at Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo.
One Herring Gull, three Western Gulls, one Glaucous Gull. several Thayer's
Gulls and about three hundred Glaucous-winged Gulls were seen at the
Parksville Community Park at Parksville Bay.

Thursday February 19:
"Rare bird alert-Northern Hawk Owl"
The Northern Hawk Owl was seen today along Morden Road in south Nanaimo.

Tuesday February 17:
Three Turkey Vultures were seen riding the thermals over Copley Ridge in
Upper Lantzville.

The Tuesday Bird Walk went to Deep Bay.
Sixteen birders saw and heard forty-six species of birds. It was an ideal
day for birding. The skies were sunny and the wind was calm. The highlight
of the morning was the sighting of twelve Long-tailed Ducks within ten feet
of the shore at the point. There were other Long-tailed Ducks out further
on the water but the ones near shore were a spectacular sight. Not far off
shore Black Scoters were singing their song. Large rafts of Surf Scoters,
White-winged Scoters, Horned Grebes, Red-necked Grebes, Harlequin Ducks and
Common and Pacific Loons were seen further out from shore. A lone Western
Grebe was spotted through our scopes not far from Denman Island. On shore
we saw a
Hutton's Vireo hawking insects from a snag. Ten Golden-crowned Sparrows were
spotted feeding on the ground near a short bush. Large flocks of singing
House Finches kept us entertained throughout the morning. We spotted a
Cooper's Hawk perched high up in a large bush. Two Bald Eagles spent the
morning looking over the Bay from high atop a Fir Tree. On the way back to
Parksville, we spotted two Pigeon Guillemots at Nile Creek.
Sixteen birders saw and heard the following forty-six species of birds:
Canada Goose, Eurasian Wigeon, American Wigeon, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup,
Harlequin Duck, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Long-tailed
Duck,
Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser,
Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Western Grebe,
Brandt's Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue
Heron, Bald Eagle, Cooper's Hawk, Black-bellied Plover, Black Oystercatcher,
Black Turnstone, Mew Gull, California Gull, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous-winged
Gull, Pigeon Guillemot, Rock Pigeon, Hutton's Vireo, Northwestern Crow,
Chestnut-backed Chickadee, American Robin, European Starling, Spotted
Towhee, Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, House Finch,
Pine Siskin and House Sparrow.

A Ring-necked Pheasant was seen in a yard in the Eaglecrest area of Qualicum
Beach.

A Townsend Warbler was seen in bushes and Brant Geese were seen on the water
near Beach Club Resort in Parksville.

Monday February 16:
Cooper's Hawk, an Evening Grosbeak, Pine Siskins, a Pileated Woodpecker and
Song Sparrows are visiting a backyard along Doehle Avenue in Parksville.

Sunday February 15:
A Pine Grosbeak was feeding on berries on a Arbutus tree in the 900 block of
Nanaimo River Road 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
**********************************
Arrowsmith Naturalists
Monday February 23, 2009 at 7:30 pm.
Guest Speaker Pamela Wesley will speak about the invasive plant situation on
the Island.
Springwood School
Parksville
********************************
The Nanoose Naturalists
Thursday March 12, 2009 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
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 on February 24 , 2009 will be going to Columbia
Beach.
Meet at the Parksville Beach Community Park near the parking area at the
Lion's
Playground at 9:00 A.M. Or meet at the parking area off Admiral Tylon
Boulevard ( Turn onto Columbia Drive off highway 19a go to Admiral Tylon
Boulevard turn right and go about 100 meters and turn left onto a parking
area near the ocean) at about 9:15A.M.
*******************************************************
The Sunday Bird Walk on March 01, 2009, will be going to Buttertubs Marsh in
Nanaimo. Meet at the Bird Store at 9:00 A.M. or meet at the Butterubs
parking area off Bowen Road at about 9:15 A.M.
*******************************************************
Good birding
Neil Robins
Nanaimo