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 22, 2009
"Rare bird alert-Common Redpoll"
Two Common Redpolls were seen at feeders in the 6900 block of Lancewood
Avenue in Lantzville.

The Sunday Bird Walk went to Neck Point in Nanaimo.
The morning was cloudy with sunny periods. A brisk west wind kept us moving
rather quickly (for birdwatchers!).
Highlights of the morning included the sighting of a Violet-green Swallow
and an Anna's Hummingbird perched at the top of a fir tree at the beginning
of the walk. We saw a feeding frenzy of a large flock of Gulls and eight
Bald Eagles far offshore. Two Yellow-rumped Warblers were seen on the Alder
Trees near the parking lot at the end of the walk.

Fifteen birders saw and heard the following forty species of birds:
Canada Goose, Pacific Loon, Pelagic Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant,
Surf Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Buffhead, Harlequin Duck, Red-breasted
Merganser, Common Merganser, Hooded Merganser, Bald Eagle, Merlin, Black
Oystercatcher, Mew Gull, Thayer's Gull, California Gull, Glaucous-winged
Gull, Northern Flicker, Anna's Hummingbird, Winter Wren, Ruby-crowned
Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet, California Quail, Common Raven,
Northwestern Crow, Varied Thrush, American Robin, European Starling,
Red-winged Blackbird, Violet-green Swallow, Yellow-rumped Warbler,
Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Brown Creeper, Bushtits, Spotted Towhee, Song
Sparrow, House Finch, Pine Siskin and Dark-eyed Junco.

Saturday March 21:
A Peregrine Falcon was spotted along Cameo Drive in Gabriola Island.

A male Rufous Hummingbird was seen at feeders along Cross Road in Nanoose
Bay.

A Peregrine Falcon was seen along Sun Valley Drive in Nanaimo.

A Red-tailed Hawk, a Greater Yellowlegs and a flock of fifty Violet-green
Swallows were seen at the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.

Friday March 20:
A male Rufous Hummingbird was seen visiting feeders along Lancewood Avenue
and along Winchelsea Place in Lantzville.

Thursday March 19:
A Rufous Hummingbird was spotted at a feeder on Gabriola Island.

A Rufous Hummingbird was seen at a feeder at Parklands Place in Lantzville.

Wednesday March 18:
A Rufous Hummingbird was spotted at feeders in the 2900 block of Thomas
Street in Nanaimo.

A Varied Thrush was seen in a yard off Maple Bay Road in Duncan.

Tuesday March 17:
The Tuesday Bird Walk went to the Little Qualicum River Estuary in Qualicum
Beach. The morning was clear and sunny with cloudy periods but the winds
were calm. Seventeen birders saw and heard forty-eight species of birds.
At the meeting spot at the Community Park in Parksville Bay there were tens
of thousands of Sea Ducks in a huge raft just past the gravel bar near
Surfside R.V Park.
At the Viewing Tower in Qualicum Beach four Black Oystercatchers, one Black
Turnstone and California, Mew, Glaucous-wing and Herring Gulls were roosting
near shore. Further out we saw Greater Scaup, Harlequin Ducks, Surf Scoters,
White-winged Scoters, Black Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, Buffleheads, Common
Goldeneyes, Barrow's Goldeneyes, Red-breasted Mergansers and thousands of
Gulls in very large rafts.
We spotted four Eurasian Wigeon, twenty Trumpeter Swans and large flocks of
Gulls at the Little Qualicum River. Just as we were leaving four Brant
Geese flew in.
Seventeen birders saw and heard the following forty-eight species of birds.
Canada Goose, Brant, Trumpeter Swan, Eurasian Wigeon, American Wigeon,
Mallard, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Greater Scaup, Harlequin Duck,
Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Long-tailed Duck,
Bufflehead,
Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Red-breasted
Merganser, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Double-crested
Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Killdeer, Black
Oystercatcher, Black Turnstone, Mew Gull, Ring-billed Gull, California Gull,
Herring Gull, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Rock Pigeon, Belted
Kingfisher,
Northern Flicker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, European Starling,
Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-winged Blackbird, Purple
Finch, House Finch and Pine Siskin.

Two Varied Thrush were seen in a garden just north of the Little Qualicum
River north of Qualicum Beach.

Sunday March 15:
A male Eurasian Green-winged Teal was spotted just off the beach near the
parking lot at Cowichan Bay.

Varied Thrush were seen in north Nanaimo at the Applecross Apartments and
just off Bay Street 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 March 23, 2009 at 7:30 pm.
Speaker Ian Gartshaw, a passionate advocate of sustainable energy, will
offer

practical, down-to-earth solutions.
Springwood School
Parksville
********************************
The Nanoose Naturalists
Thursday April 09, 2009 at 7:00 pm
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 March 24, 2009 will be going to Parksville Bay in
Parksville.
Meet at the Parksville Beach Community Park near the parking area at the
Lion's
Playground at 9:00 A.M.
*******************************************************
The Sunday Bird Walk on March 29, 2009, will be going to the Shelly Road
side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville.
Meet at the Bird Store at 9:00 A.M. or meet at the parking area at the end
of Shelly Road ( on the oceanside of Highway 19a )at about 9:30 A.M.
*******************************************************
Good birding
Neil Robins
Nanaimo