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 23, 2010:
The Sunday Bird Walk went to Morrell Wildlife Sanctuary in Nanaimo.
The morning was cloudy with rain throughout the morning. We watched a
Yellow-rumped Warbler gathering nesting material from the bottom of a tall
fir tree. Over twenty Black Swifts and a Vaux's Swift were hawking insects
high overhead. We watched a Warbling Vireo gleaning insects high in a Maple
Tree.
Seventeen birders saw and heard the following thirty-nine species of birds:
Canada Geese, Turkey Vulture, Hooded Merganser, Bald Eagle, Northern
Flicker, Rufous Hummingbird, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo,
Common Raven, Tree Swallow, Violet-green
Swallow, Barn Swallow, Vaux's Swift, Black Swift, Chestnut-backed Chickadee,
Bushtit, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper, Red-breasted Nuthatch,
Winter Wren, European Starling, Swainson's Thrush, American Robin, Cassin's
Vireo, Hutton's Vireo, Orange-crowned Warbler, Black-throated Gray
Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler,
Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Brown-headed Cowbird, Spotted Towhee,
White-crowned Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Red Crossbill, Purple
Finch and Pine Siskin.

An albino House Finch and several Band-tailed Pigeons were seen in a
backyard in the Diver Lake area of Nanaimo.

American Goldfinch, Violet-Green Swallows and a very vocal Wilson's Warbler
was inspecting the fruit trees in a backyard along Lancashire Avenue in
Nanaimo.

Pacific Loon, Canada Goose, Mallard, Great Scaup, Great Blue Heron,
Semipalmated Plover,
Greater Yellowlegs, Glaucous-winged Gull, Thayer's Gull, Mew Gull,
Bonaparte's Gull, Bald Eagle,
Rock Pigeon, Barn Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, Northwestern Crow, Purple
Martin, Northern Flicker,
Bewicks Wren, American Robin, Swainson's Thrush, European Starling, Common
Yellowthroat,
Spotted Towhee, White-crowned Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, House Finch and
Mute Swan were seen at the Campbell River Estuary in Campbell River.

Saturday May 22:
A Warbling Vireo was seen at Legacy Marsh in Upper Lantzville.

Friday May 21:
Several Western Tanagers were seen in a garden along Pintail Drive in the
Eaglecrest area of Qualicum Beach.

Thursday May 20:
American Goldfinch, Purple and House Finch, White-crown and Golden-crowned
Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, Orange-crowned Warbler,
Wilson Warblers, Dark-eyed Junco Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bushtits, Fox
and Song Sparrows Red-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick's Wren, Anna's Hummingbird
and Rufous Hummingbird are all visiting a backyard along Doehle Avenue in
Parksville.

A male Cassin's Finch was seen on sundeck railing in the 100 block of Cheryl
Place in Nanaimo.

Wednesday May 19:
A White-throated Sparrow is visiting a backyard in the 100 block of Green
Lake Road in Nanaimo.

Tuesday May 18:
The Tuesday bird walk went to Springwood Park in Parksville. The morning
started out with rain for the first hour but the rest of the morning was dry
and pleasant.
The highlights included a close up look at a very colorful Western Tanager.
The morning was full of bird songs with Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Cassin's
Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick's Wren, Winter Wren,
Swainson's Thrush, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-rumped
Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Black-headed
Grosbeak and American Robin entertaining us through out the morning. We
had a quick glance at a Western Wood-Pewee as it flew after prey. There was
a large flock of Black Swift high up in the sky hawking insects.
Thirteen birders including visitors from Vancouver, Texas and Florida saw
and heard the following forty species of birds.
Canada Goose, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Glaucous-winged Gull,
Band-tailed Pigeon, Black Swift, Vaux's Swift, Rufous Hummingbird, Northern
Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Western Wood-Pewee, Pacific-slope Flycatcher,
Cassin's Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Northwestern Crow, Common Raven,
Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bushtit, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick's Wren,
Winter Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Swainson's Thrush, Hermit Thrush,
American Robin, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Orange-crowned Warbler,
Yellow Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Wilson's
Warbler, Western Tanager, Spotted Towhee, Chipping Sparrow, Black-headed
Grosbeak, Purple Finch, Red Crossbill, Pine Siskin and American Goldfinch.

Monday May 17:
A Western Kingbird was seen along the white fence of the art Gallery, at the
Englishman River Estuary, Plummer Road side in Parksville.

Sunday May 16:
A first year Glaucous Gull was seen at the Millstone Estuary in downtown
Nanaimo.

Western Tanagers and male and female Black-headed Grosbeaks were seen at
Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo.

Fox Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, a Golden-crowned Sparrow, Spotted
Towhees, American Goldfinches, Barn, Northern rough-winged, Tree and
Violet-green Swallows, Purple Martins, Mallards, Common Mergansers, Canada
Geese, Bald Eagle, Northwest Crows, American Robins, European Starlings,
several Killdeer and Spotted Sandpipers feeding along the edge of the
Nanaimo River by the parking lot at the Nanaimo River Estuary in south
Nanaimo.

A Sora Rail was singing in the marsh at the end of Schooner Cove Drive in
Nanoose Bay.

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--Joe Crichton will lead us, via his wonderful photos, on a
bird-watching journey to the Tropics.
Monday May 31, 2010 at 7:30 pm.
Springwood School
Parksville
**********************************
The Nanoose Naturalists
Thursday June 10, 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 Sunday Bird Walk on May 30, 2010 will be going to Legacy Marsh in upper
Lantzville.
We meet at The Backyard Bird Store at 9:00 A.M. or under the hydro lines
along Normarel Drive off Superior Road at about 9:20 A.M.
*******************************************************
The Tuesday Bird Walk on May 25, 2010 will be going to the Beaver Ponds at
Nanoose Bay.
We meet the Parksville Beach Community Park at the parking area near the
Lions
playground at 9 A.M. or at the parking area about 100 feet past the four way
stop at Powder Point and Anchor Drive in Nanoose Bay 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