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 27, 2009:
The Sunday Bird Walk went to the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.
The morning was sunny and windy but very comfortable. Among the highlights
of the morning was a spectacular view of a female Northern Harrier hunting
over the Estuary field. There were Savannah Sparrows and Lincoln Sparrows
on the Estuary throughout the morning. There were an unusually large number
of Common Ravens and Northern Flickers in the area.
Twenty-one birders heard and saw the following thirty-two species of birds:
Trumpeter Swan, Canada Goose, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail,
Northern Shoveler, Common Merganser, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue
Heron, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Turkey Vulture, Killdeer, Mew Gull,
California Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Belted Kingfisher, Northern
Flicker, Downy Woodpecker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven,
Chestnut-backed Chickadee, American Robin, European Starling, Spotted
Towhee, Savannah Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow,
Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Purple Finch, House Finch and
American Goldfinch.

Saturday September 26:

An Adult Bald Eagle was seen slowly soaring low over a yard as nine
California Quail arrived in the back yard in the 2500 Block of Glenayr Drive
in Nanaimo.

Wednesday September 23:
A Barred Owl was seen perched on a tree behind a deck, for at least an hour,
on Protection Island.

Tuesday September 22:
The Tuesday Bird Walk went to Rathtrevor Provincial Park in Parksville.
The tide was high and the sea was calm; the winds were calm and the sun was
shinning making a great morning to be birding. The highlights of the
morning included seeing two Western Grebes, three Pelagic Cormorants, a
Pacific Loon and several Glaucous-winged Gulls in a small feeding frenzy on
the water. We saw a Brandt's Cormorant and a raft of Surf Scoters on the
Strait of Georgia. We spotted a flock of singing Red Crossbills on the top
of a fir tree.
Eleven birders saw and heard the following thirty-five species of birds:
Canada Goose, Mallard, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter,
Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Western Grebe,
Brandt's Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle,
Killdeer, Bonaparte's Gull, Mew Gull, Ring-billed Gull, California Gull,
Glaucous-winged Gull, Marbled Murrelet, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker,
Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted
Nuthatch, American Robin,
European Starling, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow,
Purple Finch, House Finch, Red Crossbill

Sunday September 20:
A Sharp-shinned Hawk was spotted scouting for prey at a bird feeder on
Woodthrush Place 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
Guest speaker-- Bruce Whittington, will be presenting a slide show on the
beautiful Haida Gwai.
Monday September 28, 2009 at 7:30 pm.
Springwood School
Parksville
**********************************
The Nanoose Naturalists
Thursday October 08, 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 September 29, 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 the viewing tower at highway 19a and
Garrett Road in Qualicum Beach at about 9:20 A.M.
*****************************************************
The Sunday Bird Walk on October 04 will be going to the Buttertubs Marsh in
Nanaimo
Meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 A.M. or at the Buttertubs Marsh parking area
off Bowen Road at about 9:20 A.M.
*******************************************************

Good birding,
Neil Robins

THE BACKYARD
Wildbird & Nature Store
6314 Metral Drive, Nanaimo, BC V9T 2L8
250.390.3669
250.390.1633 fax
thebackyard at shaw.ca CHECK OUT OUR BLOG--->
www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com