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 May 03, 2009:
The Sunday bird walk went to Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo. The morning was
sunny windy. Fifteen birders saw and heard forty-five species of birds.
Highlights of the morning included the sighting of a Vaux's Swift, several
Yellow Warblers and Marsh Wrens. Common Yellow-throats were singing
throughout the morning. Fifteen birders heard and saw the following
forty-five species of birds:
Turkey Vulture, Canada Goose, Mallard, Wood Duck, Hooded Merganser,
Pied-billed Grebe, Rufous Hummingbird, Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker,
Northern Flicker, Common Raven, Northwestern Crow, Violet-green Swallow,
Tree Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Purple Martin, Vaux's Swift,
Rock Pigeon, Bushtit, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bewick?s Wren, Marsh Wren,
Brown Creeper, California Quail, Great Blue Heron, Hermit Thrush, American
Robin, European Starling, Orange-crown Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler,
Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Chipping
Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, Savannah Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Red-winged
Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, Pine
Siskin, American Goldfinch, Purple Finch and House Sparrow.

Friday May 01:
A Mourning Dove was feeding in a backyard in the 100 block of Meridian Way
in Parksville.

Ten Yellow-rumped Warblers, including a female with nesting material, were
seen high-up in the big leaf maple trees at the corner straight down from
Shelly Road at the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville.

A Townsend's Solitaire was seen in tall conifer trees on the left side of
the trail, about halfway between Mills Road and the Viewing tower at the
Englishman River Estuary in Parksville.

Thursday April 30:
Canada Geese Goslings were seen in Duncan and Cedar.

American Goldfinch were seen along Uplands Drive near Emerald Drive in
Nanaimo.

Thirty Evening Grosbeaks were seen in Erminskin Park in Parksville.

House Wrens, an American Kestrel and Purple Martins were seen in the Rivers
Edge subdivision along Kaye Road in Parksville.

Tuesday April 28:
The Tuesday bird walk went to the Plummer Road side of the Englishman River
Estuary in Parksville. The morning was sunny with a stiff wind coming off
the water. The highlights included the sighting of four Pacific Loons in
breeding plumage and several flocks of Brant Geese. A single Surf Scoter
and a Black Scoter flew by heading up the Strait of Georgia. We spotted a
Glaucous Gull in strikingly white Spring plumage sitting on a far gravel
bar. Over 100 Green-winged Teal, Least Sandpipers, Western Sandpipers and
one Greater Yellowlegs were on the mud flats. Rufous Hummingbirds
entertained us all morning with their courting dives. Orange-crowned
Warblers perched and sang their song. Spring has arrived!!
Twenty-four birders saw and heard the following forty-nine species of birds:
Canada Goose, Brant, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Greater
Scaup,
Harlequin Duck, Surf Scoter, Black Scoter, Common Merganser, Red-breasted
Merganser, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Bald Eagle, Cooper's Hawk, Killdeer,
Black Oystercatcher, Greater Yellowlegs, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper,
Dunlin, Mew Gull, California Gull, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull,
Glaucous Gull, Band-tailed Pigeon, Rufous Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher,
Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Northwestern Crow, Tree Swallow,
Violet-green Swallow, Barn Swallow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Winter Wren,
American Robin, European Starling, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped
Warbler, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Golden-crowned
Sparrow, Purple Finch, House Finch, Pine Siskin and House Sparrow.

A Swainson's Thrush and two Golden-crowned Sparrows were seen in 5300 block
of Hammond Bay Road.

Purple Martins were seen at the Nanoose Bay Flats on the nest boxes on the
pilings across from the Rest Area off highway 19.

Sunday April 26:
A Yellow Warbler was seen at Somenos Marsh. An Osprey was feeding on a fish
at the Golf Driving Range near the marsh.

An Osprey was spotted on the Osprey nest platform at Buttertubs in Nanaimo.

Twenty Purple Martins were seen at the Marina at Deep Bay.

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
Thursday May 14, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Guest speaker Tony Ransom will give a slide presentation of his recent trip
to the Galapagos Islands.
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
**********************************
Arrowsmith Naturalists
Monday May 25, 2009 at 7:30 pm.
Springwood School
Parksville
********************************
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 May 05, 2009 will be going to Springwood Park in
Parksville
Meet at the Parksville Beach Community Park near the parking area at the
Lion's
Playground at 9:00 A.M. or at the west end of Despard Avenue in Parksville
at about 9:15 A.M.
*******************************************************
The Sunday Bird Walk on May 10, will be going to Legacy Marsh in upper
Lantzville Meet at the Bird Store at 9:00 A.M. or under the hydro lines on
Normarel Drive (off Highway 19 and Superior Road) at about 9:20 A.M.
*******************************************************
Good birding
Neil Robins
Nanaimo,
British Columbia.