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 September 06, 2009:
The Sunday Bird Walk was rained out!

A Solitary Sandpiper was seen at the Beaver Ponds at Morrell Wildlife
Sanctuary in Nanaimo.

Saturday September 05:
Over thirty Black Swifts were seen flying over Parksville Beach in
Parksville.

Friday September 04:
Three Baird's Sandpipers were seen along the sandbar at Pebble Beach in
Columbia Beach.

A Cooper's Hawk was spotted in a backyard in the 700 block of Victoria Road
in Nanaimo.

Thursday September 03:
Twelve Red-necked Phalaropes were seen off shore from the breakwater at
French Creek. Further off shore, two Parasitic Jaegers were spotted chasing
Gulls at Columbia Beach.

An Anna's Hummingbird is visiting hanging fuchsias, and a Pileated
Woodpecker was seen feeding on blackberries in a backyard on Walkem Road in
Ladysmith.

Tuesday September 01:
The Tuesday Bird Walk for the Oceanside area resumed this week and went to
the Shelly Road side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville.
Highlights of the morning included watching as two Black-throated Gray
Warblers and a Warbling Vireo dropped out of the sky onto a big Ash Tree.
Several American Goldfinch moved through the bushes and we watched
White-crowned Sparrows moving through bushes and along the ground. A flock
of Red Crossbills nosily flew overhead. A Spotted Sandpiper flew across the
river and then bobbed his tail as he probed along the shore for food. A
Barred Owl, perched on a low branch, gave us impressive looks until he flew
into the forest. After a few minutes he gave a few calls to let us know he
was still there.
Thirteen birders heard and saw the following forty-two species of birds:
Canada Goose, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Common Merganser, Great Blue Heron,
Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Merlin, Killdeer, Spotted
Sandpiper, Mew Gull, California Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Band-tailed
Pigeon, Barred Owl, Anna's Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Red-breasted
Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Warbling Vireo, Northwestern
Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bushtit, Red-breasted
Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Bewick's Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, American
Robin, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Black-throated Gray Warbler,
Western Tanager, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Purple
Finch,
House Finch, Red Crossbill and American Goldfinch.

Wednesday September 02:
Bonaparte's Gulls, Common Loons, Red-necked Grebes, Surf Scoters,
White-winged Scoters and a Pigeon Guillemot were seen at Deep Bay.

Saturday August 29:
A Northern Pygmy Owl was heard and seen along Nanaimo Lakes Road in Nanaimo.

Wednesday August 26:
A Pacific Slope Flycatcher was seen near Parksville Bay in Parksville,
landing on a birdbath dripper and flying down into the middle of the dripper
several times.

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
Guest Speaker, Richard Crowley of the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Reserve.
Thursday September 10, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
**********************************
Arrowsmith Naturalists
Monday September 28, 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 September 08, 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 the parking area at the corner of Plummer
Road and Shorewood Drive at about 9:10 A.M.
*****************************************************
The Sunday Bird Walk on September 13 will be going to Bowen Park in Nanaimo.
Meet at the Bird store at 9:00 a.m. or at the parking area at Bowen Park off
Bowen Road at about 9:20 A.M.
*******************************************************
Good birding
Neil Robins
Nanaimo
British Columbia