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 24, 2010:
The Sunday bird walk went to Shelly Road side of the Englishman River
Estuary. It was a windy, dull morning, but pleasant enough for birding. The
highlights included seeing a Merlin perched in a tall Alder Tree at the
start of the walk. A Red-tailed Hawk was perched all morning overlooking
the estuary. We watched as a Peregrine Falcon flew in and circled to land
in it's usual perch. We noticed another Peregrine Falcon circling above the
first perching Falcon.

Twelve birders found the following thirty-seven species of birds:
Canada Goose, Brant, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Gadwall,
Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Surf Scoter, Hooded Merganser, Common
Merganser, Common Loon, Pacific Loon, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron,
Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Mew Gull,
Glaucous-winged Gull, Northern Flicker, Chestnut-backed Chickadee,
Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Bewick's Wren, Winter Wren,
Golden-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, Spotted Towhee, Song Sparrow,
White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Purple Finch, Red Crossbill, House
Finch and Pine Siskin.

Saturday January 23:
"Rare bird alert- Tricolored Blackbirds"
Seven Tricolored Blackbirds were seen by a well experienced birder at and
around a bird feeder in Quathaski Cove on Quadra Island.

Friday January 22:
A Varied Thrush was seen in a backyard in the 2500 block of Glenayr Drive in
Nanaimo.

Thursday January 21:
A Merlin was spotted in the 2500 block of Glenayr Drive in Nanaimo.

Wednesday January 20:
A Cooper's Hawk was seen in the 2500 block of Glenayr Drive in Nanaimo.

Tuesday January 19:
The Tuesday Bird Walk went to Columbia Beach. The morning was cloudy with a
stiff wind off the Strait of Georgia, but the rain held off until near the
end of the morning.
Among the highlights were the sighting of six Common Murres and several
flocks of Pacific Loons heading down the Strait of Georgia. We saw a flock
of Dunlin and Black Turnstones and one Greater Yellowlegs along French Creek
.
Eight birders saw and heard the following forty-one species of birds:
Canada Goose, American Wigeon, Mallard, Greater Scaup, Harlequin Duck, Surf
Scoter, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser , Common Merganser,
Red-breasted Merganser, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Double-crested Cormorant,
Pelagic Cormorant, Bald Eagle, Black Oystercatcher,
Greater Yellowlegs, Black Turnstone, Dunlin, Mew Gull, Thayer's Gull,
Glaucous-winged Gull, Common Murre, Rock Pigeon, Belted Kingfisher, Northern
Flicker, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven, Chestnut-backed Chickadee,
American Robin, Varied Thrush, European Starling, Spotted Towhee, Song
Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-winged Blackbird, Purple Finch, House Finch,
Pine Siskin and House Sparrow.

Sunday January 17:
The Sunday bird walk went to El Charco del Ingenio, San Miguel de Allende,
Mexico. The day started chilly but sunny. sweater weather, but by noon it
was very warm, shirt sleeve weather. I saw various wonderous birds.
One birder found the following forty seven species of birds:
Cactus wren, Curved Bill Thrasher, Brown Towhee, Scott's Oriole, Clay
Coloured Sparrow, Broad Billed Hummingbird, Inca Dove, Cassins Kingbird.
Caracaras (many), Great Kiskadee, Long Tailed Gracle, House Sparrow,
Vermillion Flycatcher (very common), Turkey Vulture, Cattle egret, Snowy
Egret, Great Egret, Rock Pigeon, Raven, Loggerhead Shrike, Ruby Crowned
Kinglet, Lesser Gold Finch, Killdeer, House Finch, Ruddy Duck, Green Winged
Teal, Gadwall, Northern Shoveller, Mexican Duck, Ring Necked Duck, American
Widgeon, Lesser Scaup, White Faced Ibis, Black Necked Stilt, American
Avocet, Spotted Sandpiper, American Coot, Black Phoebe, Say's Phoebe,
Chipping Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, White Collared Seed Eater, Yellow Rumped
Warbler, Western Sandpiper, Long Billed Dowitcher, American Kestrel, and
White Tipped Dove.
Happy Birding!
John Coulson

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
Monday January 25, 2010 at 7:30 pm.
Springwood School
Parksville
**********************************
The Nanoose Naturalists
Thursday February 11, 2010 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 January 26, 2010 will be going to the Little
Qualicum River Estuary in Qualicum Beach.
We meet the Parksville Beach Community Park at the parking area near the
Lions playground at 9 A.M. or at the Viewing Platform at Highway 19A and
Garrett Road in Qualicum Beach at about 9:20 A.M.
*****************************************************
The Sunday Bird Walk on January 31, 2010, will be going to Buttertubs Marsh
in Nanaimo.
Meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 A.M. or at the parking lot at Buttertubs
(Bowen Road entrance) at 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