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 February 28, 2010:
The Sunday bird walk went to the Little Qualicum River Estuary in Qualicum
Beach.
The morning was cloudy but winds were calm.
We saw large rafts of Bufflehead, Greater Scaup, Harlequin Duck, Common
Goldeneye, Double-crested Cormorant,
Pelagic Cormorant, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter,
Long-tailed Duck and Common Merganser offshore at the viewing platform. One
Black-bellied Plover, six Dunlin and three Black Oystercatchers were along
the tide line near the viewing platform. Hugh rafts of Pacific Loons,
Common Loons and Red-breasted Mergansers were further offshore.
Twelve birders found the following forty-eight species of birds:
Trumpeter Swans, Canada Goose, Brant, Eurasian Wigeon, American Widgeon,
Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Mallard, Bufflehead, Green-winged Teal,
Greater Scaup, Harlequin Duck, Common Goldeneye, Pacific Loon, Common Loon,
Long-tailed Ducks, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Common
Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Great Blue Heron, Double-crested
Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Bald Eagle, Black-bellied Plover, Black
Oystercatcher, Killdeer, Dunlin, Mew Gull, Bonaparte's Gull, Thayer's Gull,
Herring Gull, California Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Northern Flicker,
Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Belted Kingfisher, European Starling,
Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Red-breasted Nuthatch, American
Robin, House Finch, Song Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco and Red Crossbill.

Over thirty Trumpeter Swans were seen in the fields at the Ugly Dwarf
Meadows in Nanoose Bay.

Saturday February 27:
Six Band-tailed Pigeon have been visiting feeders all winter in the 1100
block of Stymie Close in the Eaglecrest area of Qualicum Beach.

Tuesday February 23:
The Tuesday Bird Walk went to Columbia Beach. The morning started off cloudy
with calm winds and just a ripple on the Strait of Georgia. However, near
the end of the walk it was raining.
There was a Sharp-shinned Hawk perched in a tall fir tree at the beginning
of the walk. The morning was filled with the sightings of seabirds on the
water. There were rafts of Brant Geese, Harlequin Ducks, Surf Scoters,
American Wigeons, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, a lone
Common Merganser and Red-breasted Mergansers. A White-winged Scoter flew by
and three Long-tailed Ducks flew in and landed not far from shore. We saw a
large raft of Pacific and Common Loons near the horizon. Many flocks of
twenty and thirty Brant Geese flew up and down the Strait all morning. We
saw Black-bellied Plovers, three Killdeer, Black Oystercatcher, one Greater
Yellowlegs, Black Turnstones, a large cloud of Dunlin, one Bonaparte's Gull
as well as several Mew Gulls, California Gull, Thayer's Gulls and
Glaucous-winged Gulls at the gravel bar in front of the Pebble Beach
townhouses.
Sixteen birders saw and heard the following forty-six species of birds:
Canada Goose, Brant, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Harlequin
Duck, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Common
Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser,
Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Brandt's
Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Bald Eagle,
Sharp-shinned Hawk, Black-bellied Plover, Killdeer, Black Oystercatcher,
Greater Yellowlegs, Black Turnstone, Dunlin, Bonaparte's Gull, Mew Gull,
California Gull, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Northern Flicker,
Pileated Woodpecker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, European Starling,
Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, House Finch, Red Crossbill,
Pine Siskin and House Sparrow.

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 March 11, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Guest Speaker, Guy Monty--topic Black Brant.
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
**********************************
Arrowsmith Naturalists
Guest Speaker-Colin Bartlett
Monday March 22, 2010 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 March 02, 2010 will be going to little Qualicum
River Estuary.
We meet the Parksville Beach Community Park at the parking area near the
Lions playground at 9 A.M. or at the viewing platform near Highway 19a and
Garrett Road at about 9:20 A.M.
*****************************************************
The Sunday Bird Walk on March 07, 2010, will be going to Buttertubs Marsh in
Nanaimo.
Meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 A.M. or at the parking area off Bowen Road
near Buttertubs Marsh 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