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 March 08, 2009
The Sunday bird walk went to the Little Qualicum River Estuary in Qualicum
Beach. The morning was partly cloudy with strong cold winds. Seven
dedicated birders saw and heard the following thirty-seven species of birds:
Trumpeter Swan, Common Loon, Pacific Loon, Red-throated Loons, Canada
Goose, Brant, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Surf Scoter, Black
Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's
Goldeneye, Horned Grebe, Greater Scaup, Harlequin Duck, American Wigeon,
Eurasian Wigeon, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Merganser, Pigeon
Guillemot, Bald Eagle, Black-bellied Plover, Black Oystercatcher, Black
Turnstone, Mew Gull, California Gull, Bonaparte's Gull, Thayer's Gull,
Glaucous-winged Gull, Northern Flicker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven,
American Robin, European Starling and Red-winged Blackbird.

Saturday March 07:
A Northern Pygmy Owl was seen and head near the Animal Pound along Nanaimo
Lakes Road in South Nanaimo.

Thousands of Gulls were gathering around about twenty fishing boats near
the Breakwater at French Creek as the Herring spawn begins.

Friday March 06:
Two Merlins were seen over the 2500 block of Glenayr Drive in Nanaimo.

Thursday March 05:
A Turkey Vulture was spotted above Despard Avenue at Highway 4A in
Parksville.

Wednesday March 04:
An American Bittern was seen at Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo feeding in the
rushes by the cycle stopgate on the Golf Course side of the Marsh.

Over fifty Violet-green Swallows were seen hawking insects over flooded
fields north of Herd Road (off of Highway 1, North of Duncan).

Two Common Nighthawks were spotted over Third Street near the swimming pool
in Central Nanaimo.

Tuesday March 03:
The Tuesday Bird Walk went to the Shelly Road side of the Englishman River
in Parksville. The misty morning was cloudy with rain but the winds were
calm.
Among the highlights were flocks of Brant Geese and Surf Scoters in long
lines moving up the Strait of Georgia. A flock of about 100 Dunlin flew
down the Strait. Two Eurasian Wigeon, Greater Scaup, Gadwall and
Green-winged Teal were feeding on the Estuary.
Eighteen wet birders saw and heard the following forty-one species of birds.
Canada Goose, Brant, Gadwall, Eurasian Wigeon, American Wigeon, Mallard,
Green-winged Teal, Greater Scaup, Surf Scoter, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye,
Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe,
Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Killdeer, Dunlin, Black Oystercatcher, Mew
Gull,
California Gull, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Belted Kingfisher,
Northern Flicker, Steller's Jay, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven,
Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Brown Creeper, Bewick's Wren, Golden-crowned
Kinglet, American Robin, Varied Thrush, European Starling, Spotted Towhee,
Song Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, House Finch and Pine Siskin.

A Townsend's Warbler was spotted along Furn Road in Cedar.

A pair of Pileated Woodpeckers, a male Ring-necked Pheasant, Steller's
Jays, Red-winged Blackbirds, Brewers Blackbirds, Dark-eyed Juncos, Northern
Flickers and mature Bald Eagle are visiting a yard along Virginia Road in
Coombs.

Monday March 02:
"Rare bird alert--Harris's Sparrow"
A Harris's Sparrow was seen and photographed in the 7300 block of Lantzville
Road in Lantzville. The Harris's Sparrow is normally seen east of the Rocky
Mountains in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba during the summer and they
winter in Southern Central United State

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
**********************************
The Nanoose Naturalists
Jim Crist will speak about "Nuclear Energy: Why Not?".
Thursday March 12, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
**********************************
Arrowsmith Naturalists
Monday March 23, 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 on March 10, 2009 will be going to the Plummer 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 meet at the corner of Plummer Road and Shorewood
Drive at about 9:10 A.M.
*******************************************************
The Sunday Bird Walk on March 15, 2009, will be going to Neck Point Park in
Nanaimo.
Meet at the Bird Store at 9:00 A.M. or meet at the parking lot at Neck Point
Park off Hammond Bay Road at about 9:15 A.M.
*******************************************************
Good birding
Neil Robins
Nanaimo