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 January 10, 2010:
The Sunday Bird Walk went to Neck Point in Nanaimo. The wind was strong at
the first of the morning but calmed considerably as the morning progressed.
The highlights of the walk included seeing an male Anna's Hummingbird
perched in a tree not far from us. Several flocks of Pacific Loons were
spotted heading down the Strait of Georgia. A Fox Sparrow caught our
attention as it sang from a perch on the low shrubs. A large flock of
Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Golden-crowned Kinglets were feeding on shrubs
close to the ground. A large flock of Pine Siskins were feeding in the
Alder Trees near the parking lot.
Nineteen birders found the following forty species of birds:
Canada Geese, Mallard, Bufflehead, Harlequin Duck, Common Goldeneye,
Barrow's Goldeneye, Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Merganser, Bald Eagle,
Black Oystercatcher, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Brandt's
Cormorant, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Mew Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull,
California Quail, Anna's Hummingbird, Northern Flicker, Downy Woodpecker,
Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Brown Creeper,
Bushtits, Winter Wren, Bewick's Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned
Kinglet, Varied Thrush, American Robin, European Starling, Spotted Towhee,
Song Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, House Finch, Pine Siskin and Red
Crossbill.

Two American Tree Sparrows were seen in with a large flock of Dark-eyed
Juncos along the long Hedgerow at the Nanaimo River Estuary in south
Nanaimo.

Saturday January 09:
A White-throated Sparrow was spotted in with over a dozen Golden-crowned
Sparrows
in the area between the large Oak Tree and the River at the Nanaimo River
Estuary in south Nanaimo.

A Northern Pygmy Owl was heard calling near a backyard in the 2100 block of
Lancashire Avenue in Nanaimo.

Friday January 08:
A Northern Saw-Whet Owl was seen perched in a tree in a yard on Riverbend
Road along the Nanaimo River in Cassidy.

Thursday January 07:
Two pair of Red-breasted Mergansers were doing courtship displays on Sunset
Beach and two immature Bald Eagles, a Pileated Woodpecker, two Harlequin
Ducks, two Common Goldeneye, two Pacific Loons and a Winter Wren were all
seen at Neck Point Park in Nanaimo.

A Great Horned Owl was seen in the 3400 block of Stevenson Point Road in
Nanaimo.

Tuesday January 05:
The Tuesday Bird Walk went to Rathtrevor Provincial Park in Parksville. The
morning was cloudy with fog over the water. The highlights included being
greeted at the start of the walk by a large number of Bushtits, Dark-eyed
Juncos and Golden-crowned Sparrows moving through the small bushes near the
parking lot. Two Western Grebes, a very large raft of Surf Scoters and over
two hundred Common Murres were observed offshore. Several small flocks of
Pacific Loons were seen heading down the Strait of Georgia. There were
several Seals and Sea-lions resting not far from the shoreline
Fourteen Birders saw and heard the following thirty-seven species of birds.
Mallard, Harlequin Duck, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Bufflehead,
Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Red-breasted
Merganser, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe,
Western Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Bald Eagle,
Black-bellied Plover, Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstone, Dunlin, Mew
Gull, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Common Murre, Northern Flicker,
Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bushtit,
Red-breasted Nuthatch, American Robin, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow,
Golden-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco and Red Crossbill.

A Merlin was seen visiting a backyard in the 2500 block of Glenayr Drive in
Nanaimo.

A Townsend's Warbler was seen visiting a suet feeder in a backyard in the
6200 block of Rose Place in Nanaimo.

Tuesday December 29, 2009:
A Pine Grosbeak was seen visiting feeders along Scarsdale Road 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
**********************************
The Nanoose Naturalists
Thursday January 14, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
**********************************
Arrowsmith Naturalists
Monday January 25, 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 January 12, 2010 will be going to the Shelly Road
side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville.
We meet the Parksville Beach Community Park at the parking area near the
Lions playground at 9 A.M. or at the end of Shelly Road at about 9:10 A.M.
*****************************************************
The Sunday Bird Walk on January 17, 2010 will be going to Nanoose Bay.
Meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 A.M. or at the parking lot at behind the
Church Camp off Highway 19 and Arlington 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