NANAIMO BIRD REPORT

To report your sightings
phone the Store at 250-390-3669
e-mail us at thebackyard at shaw.ca
call the Bird Report 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 May 09, 2010:
The Sunday Bird Walk went to Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo
The morning was sunny with light winds.
The highlight of the morning was hearing and seeing a great number of Yellow
Warblers through out the morning. We were entertained by a Black-headed
Grosbeak singing from a tall Elm Tree at the start of the walk. We had a
fleeing glance of what we thought to be a Bullock's Oriole as it flew away
from the top of a tall tree. Bullock's Orioles have nested at the Marsh for
the past 12 years.
Twenty birders, including visitors from Saskatoon, Germany and Oxford,
England saw and heard the following forty-nine species birds:
Turkey Vulture, Canada Goose, Mallard, Wood Duck, Ring-necked Duck,
Hooded Merganser, Pied-billed Grebe, Glaucous-winged Gull, Osprey, Merlin,
Anna's Hummingbird, Rufous Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker,
Northwestern Crow, Violet-green Swallow, Tree Swallow, Northern Rough-winged
Swallow, Purple Martin, Vaux's Swift, Band-tailed Pigeon, Rock Pigeon,
Bushtit, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bewick?s Wren, Marsh Wren, Brown
Creeper, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Great Blue Heron, Cedar Waxwing, American
Robin, European Starling, Orange-crown Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler,
Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Wilson's Warbler, Spotted Towhee,
Song Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird,
Black-headed Grosbeak, Bullock's Oriole, Brown-headed Cowbird, Pine Siskin,
American Goldfinch, Purple Finch and House Sparrow.

Saturday May 08:
A Ringed Turtle Dove was seen near Rutherford School in north Nanaimo.

Two Red-tailed Hawks were spotted chasing two Bald Eagles above Dawkins Lane
in Nanaimo

Nineteen Black Oystercatchers and ten Bonaparte's Gulls were seen on the
beach at Qualicum Beach.

A Black-headed Grosbeak was visiting feeders in the 7400 block of
Lantzvillle Road in Lantzville.

An Anna's Hummingbird had a shower as the homeowner was watering the garden
with a garden hose in the 2500 block of Glenayr Drive in Nanaimo.

"Rare bird alert - Indigo Bunting"
A second year male Indigo Bunting, along with Whimbrels, Western Sandpipers,
Least Sandpipers, Dunlins and Semipalmated Plovers, was seen at the Tofino
Mudflats near the Clayoquot-Orca Resort Lodge in Tofino. The Bunting flew by
and perched briefly in some alders along the shore. The Indigo Bunting is
usually found in the eastern and southern United States.

Wednesday May 05:
A Cedar Waxwing was seen in a yard in the 5400 block of Altavista Drive in
Nanaimo.

Tuesday May 04:
The Tuesday bird walk went to the Shelly Road side of the Englishman River
Estuary in Parksville. The morning was clear but cool with a light wind.
We heard and saw two Pacific-slope Flycatchers high up in a Big Leaf Maple
Tree. Barn Swallows and Violet-green Swallows flew just above the grasses
over the estuary. We saw a Bushtit fly out of it's sock shaped nest. There
was a Greater Yellowlegs moving along the shore of the Englishman River as a
Common Merganser lazily floated by. We heard a Ring-necked Pheasant and saw
a California Quail on the trail. A Belted Kingfisher hovered over the
Estuary and then plunged into the water and then flew away with a fish. We
spotted a Barred Owl perched high up in a tall Ash Tree above the trail
Seventeen birders saw and heard the following fifty-one species of birds:
Snow Goose, Canada Goose, Mallard, Surf Scoter, Bufflehead, Hooded
Merganser,
Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Ring-necked Pheasant, California
Quail, Pacific Loon, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue
Heron, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Greater Yellowlegs, Mew Gull,
Glaucous-winged Gull, Band-tailed Pigeon, Barred Owl, Rufous Hummingbird,
Belted Kingfisher,
Northern Flicker, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Hutton's Vireo, Northwestern
Crow,
Common Raven, Violet-green Swallow, Barn Swallow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee,
Bushtit, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick's Wren, Winter Wren,
American Robin, European Starling, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped
Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Spotted Towhee, Chipping Sparrow,
Savannah Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Golden-crowned
Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Purple Finch, House
Finch and Red Crossbill.

Monday May 03:
Two Wilson's Warblers, American Goldfinches, Pine Siskins, White and Gold-
crowned Sparrows are visiting a backyard and feeders along Foxtail Avenue in
Parksville.

A possible Black Chinned Hummingbird is feeding at feeders in the 6600 block
of Vallyview Drive in Nanaimo.

Monday April 26:
A Yellow-headed Blackbird was seen in the 1700 block of Loat Street 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
Guest Speaker-- Dr. John Gunton will speak on volcanoes, earthquakes and
other geo-hazards in the Georgia Basin
Thursday May 13, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Nanoose Library,
Nanoose Bay
**********************************
Arrowsmith Naturalists
Monday May 24, 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 Sunday Bird Walk on May 16, 2010 will be going to Morden Colliery in
south Nanaimo.
We meet at The Backyard Bird Store at 9:00 A.M. or at the end of Morden Road
at Morden Colliery at about 9:30 A.M.
*******************************************************
**PLEASE NOTE--THERE WILL NOT BE A TUESDAY BIRD WALK ON MAY 11, 2010**
The Tuesday bird walks will resume on May 18, 2010.
*****************************************************
The Tuesday Bird Walk on May 18, 2010 will be going to the Springwood Park
in Parksville.
We meet the Parksville Beach Community Park at the parking area near the
Lions
playground at 9 A.M. or at the west end of Despard Avenue at about 9:15 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