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 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

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.

Thursday January 22, 2009:
One Varied Thrush, four Golden Crowned Sparrows, four Fox Sparrows, a
flock of Pine Siskins, one Downy Woodpecker, one Northern Flicker, two
Steller's Jays, two Spotted Towhee's, House Sparrows, one House Finch, one
Purple Finch, a Song Sparrow, three European Starlings and a Merlin seen in
the 600 block of Alderwood Drive in Ladysmith.

Wednesday January 21:
A Ring-necked Pheasant was seen near the pond off Viking Way in French
Creek.

Tuesday January 20:
The Tuesday Bird Walk went to the Columbia Beach. Eight birders saw and
heard forty species of birds. The bird of the morning was a first winter
Barn Swallow--a very unusual bird to be in this area at this time of the
year. This first year winter plumage bird is usually seen in Argentina as a
rule, however there have been some sightings of a similar bird in Oregon,
Washington and in Vancouver in the past week. We observed the Barn Swallow
through our spotting scopes as it rested on a small bush on an empty lot
along the waterfront. White-crowned Sparrows, Golden-crowned Sparrows,
House Finch and Purple Finch were in the same area.
The sea was calm on a foggy January morning. Through the heavy fog we were
able to find American Wigeon, Mallard, Harlequin Ducks, Bufflehead and
Common Goldeneye on the Strait of Georgia. On the gravel bar we could make
out a Black-bellied Plover, three Killdeer, five Black Oystercatcher, one
Greater Yellowlegs probing the water for food and twenty Black Turnstone on
the tideline probing the sand for food.
When the fog briefly lifted we saw a female Greater Scaup, four Surf
Scoters, two White-winged Scoters, two Black Scoters, several Buffleheads
and a Common Loon.

Eight birders found the following forty species of birds on January 20,
2009:
Canada Goose, American Wigeon, Mallard, Greater Scaup, Harlequin Duck,
Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Bufflehead, Common
Goldeneye,
Common Merganser, Common Loon, Black-bellied Plover, Killdeer, Black
Oystercatcher, Greater Yellowlegs, Black Turnstone, Dunlin, Mew Gull,
Thayer's Gull, Western Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Rock Pigeon, Northern
Flicker, Northwestern Crow, Barn Swallow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American
Robin, Varied Thrush, European Starling, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow,
White-crowned Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Brewer's
Blackbird, Purple Finch, House Finch, Pine Siskin and House Sparrow.

Evening Grosbeaks were seen visiting feeders in Cumberland.

A California Quail was spotted at the corner of Newcastle Avenue and Bryden
Road in Nanaimo.

Monday January 19:
Common Redpolls, a Varied Thrush, Spotted Towhees, a Fox Sparrow and Anna's
Hummingbirds are visiting feeders along Cross Bow Drive in the Departure Bay
area of Nanaimo.

An immature Northern Harrier was spotted above the Jinglepot Pub, at the
corner of Harwell Road and Woodthrush Place . It sat in the top of a pine
tree for a while and then flew off to the south-east.

A Sharp-shinned Hawk was seen feeding in a yard in the 200 block of Lundgren
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 January 26, 2009 at 7:30 pm.
Members night--stories and slides are shared and a raffle is held.
Springwood School
Parksville
********************************
The Nanoose Naturalists
Thursday February 12, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Guess speaker Gary Kaiser will present a programme on the Marbled Murrelet.
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
**********************************
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 January 27, 2009 will be going to the Little
Qualicum River Estuary in Qualicum 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 Viewing Tower off Highway 19a and Garrett Road in Qualicum
Beach at about 9:20 A.M.
*******************************************************
The Sunday Bird Walk on February 01, 2009, will be going to Neck Point Park
in Nanaimo.
Meet at the Bird Store at 9:00 A.M.
Or meet at the Neck Point Parking lot off Hammond Bay Road at about 9:20A.M.
*******************************************************
Good birding
Neil Robins
Nanaimo