NANAIMO BIRD REPORT
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To report your sightings
phone the Store at 250-390-3669
e-mail us at thebackyard at shaw.ca

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

Birding in Central and South America:
www.wildbirdtours.ca

Identify backyard birds:
National Geographic Bird Identifier Site
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birding/backyard-bird-identifier/

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, the species and location of your sighting.

Sunday October 31, 2010:
The Sunday Bird Walk went to Neck Point in Nanaimo
The morning was sunny but cool with calm winds. The highlights including
seeing several flocks of Bonaparte's Gull flying down the Strait of Georgia.
We spotted several Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets low in the
bushes near the trail. There was one Orange-crowned Warbler gleaning insects
from the tree branches.
Eleven birders saw and heard the following forty-two species of birds.
Canada Goose, Greater Scaup, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Harlequin
Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Merganser, Horned Grebe, Common Loon,
Pacific Loon, Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstone, Surfbird, Spotted
Sandpiper, Marbled Murrelet, Rhinoceros Auklet, Pelagic Cormorant,
Double-crested Merganser, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, California Gull,
Thayer's Gull, Mew Gull, Bonaparte's Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Anna's
Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, Downey Woodpecker,
Northwestern Crow, Steller's Jay, Spotted Towhee, European Starling,
Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned
Kinglet,Bewick's Wren, Brown Creeper, Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow,
Dark-eyed Junco and House Finch.

Saturday October 30:
Two Trumpeter Swans were seen flying low over the Cat Stream near Beacon
Hill Road in Nanaimo.

Friday October 29:
Six Snow Geese were seen resting on the grass at the far end of the Park,
near the last parking area, at Parksville Bay.

Wednesday October 27:
"Rare bird alert-Palm Warbler:
A Palm Warbler was spotted along the east end of the Parksville wetlands off
Lodgepole Avenue in Parksville. The Palm Warbler is normally found east of
the Rocky Mountains.

Wilson's Snipe was seen at the Cottonwood Golf Course in south Nanaimo.

A Short-eared Owl was seen at the Nanaimo River Estuary in south Nanaimo.

A Wilson's Snipe was spotted in a front yard along Lost Lake Road in north
Nanaimo.

Six Snow Geese were seen in with the Gulls on the grass at Parksville Bay in
Parksville.

Tuesday October 26:
The Tuesday bird walk went to Columbia Beach. The surf was up and there was
light rain and strong winds off the Strait of Georgia with us all morning.
The highlights included seeing an Eared Grebe moving on the big waves
offshore. We saw several flocks of Long-tailed Ducks moving in groups of
four and five down the Strait of Georgia. Black-bellied Plovers, Black
Oystercatchers, Greater Yellowlegs, Black Turnstones, Dunlin, Mew Gulls,
Ring-billed Gulls California Gull, Thayer's Gulls and Glaucous-winged Gulls
were claiming the Pebble Beach gravel bar as the tide receded. Several
flocks of Bonaparte's Gulls playfully flew past.
Sixteen birders was and heard the following thirty-nine species of birds:
Canada Goose, American Wigeon, Mallard, Greater Scaup, Harlequin Duck, Surf
Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead,
Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Pacific Loon, Common Loon, Horned
Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Eared Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic
Cormorant, Black-bellied Plover, Black Oystercatcher, Greater Yellowlegs,
Black Turnstone, Dunlin, Bonaparte's Gull, Mew Gull, Ring-billed Gull,
California Gull,
Thayer's Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Common Murre, Marbled Murrelet,
Northern Flicker, Northwestern Crow, European Starling, Spotted Towhee, Song
Sparrow, Purple Finch and House Finch.

A Varied Thrush, a Merlin, Steller's Jays, Northern Flicker, House Finches,
Spotted Towhees, and Dark-eyed Juncos were seen in a yard near the corner of
Rupert Road & Memorial Avenue in Qualicum Beach.

Monday October 25:
A Ruddy Duck was seen near the north-east corner of Buttertubs Marsh in
Nanaimo. If you start at the northern parking lot off Buttertubs, take the
path to the left until it straightens out then look along the southern end
of that first small bay. It was resting among the floating vegetation about
5-10 feet from the reeds.

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
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The Nanoose Naturalists meeting.
Karen Barry will share the results of the Coastal Waterbird Survey and the
Beached Bird Survey.
November 11th at 7 pm
at the Library on Northwest Bay Road.
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The Arrowsmith Naturalists meeting.
Monday, November 22 at 7.30 pm
at Springwood School.
Parksville.
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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.
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The Tuesday Bird Walk on November 02, 2010. will be going to the Shelly Road
side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville.
We will meet at the Parksville Beach Community Park, at the parking area in
front of the Lions Playground at 9 A.M. or at the parking area at the end
of Shelly Road on the oceanside of Highway 19A at about 9:10 A.M.
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The Sunday Bird Walk on November 07, 2010 will be going to the Nanaimo River
Estuary in south Nanaimo.
We will meet at The Backyard Bird Store at 9:00 A.M. or at the parking area
at the end of Raines Road in South Nanaimo at about 9:30 A.M.
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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