NANAIMO BIRD REPORT
"GO BIRDING--EXPLORE NATURE"
Please remember, when reporting a sighting, to leave your name and phone
number along with the date, the species and location of your sighting.
To report your sightings phone the Store at 250-390-3669 or e-mail us at
thebackyard@shaw.ca
Sunday January 15, 2012:
The Sunday bird walk went to Nanoose Bay. The morning was sunny and calm but
quite cool. The highlights included seeing four
Red Crossbill perched on
top of a bush close to us. A
Red-tailed Hawk was perched on a tall tree
giving us great looks. We spotted a
Lincoln's Sparrow near the trail.
Eleven birders saw and heard the following thirty-nine species:
Canada Goose,
Eurasian Wigeon,
American Wigeon,
Mallard,
Gadwall, Greater
Scaup,
Northern Pintail,
Green-winged Teal,
Surf Scoter, White-winged
Scoter,
Bufflehead,
Common Goldeneye,
Barrow's Goldeneye,
Hooded Merganser,
Red-breasted Merganser,
Horned Grebe,
Red-necked Grebe,
Pacific Loon, Common
Loon,
Bald Eagle,
Red-tailed Hawk,
Golden-crowned Kinglet, Chestnut-backed
Chickadee,
Killdeer,
Mew Gull,
Thayer's Gull,
Glaucous-winged Gull, Belted
Kingfisher,
Northern Flicker,
European Starling,
Spotted Towhee, Lincoln's
Sparrow,
Fox Sparrow,
Song Sparrow,
Red Crossbill,
Golden-crowned Sparrow,
Dark-eyed Junco,
Purple Finch and
Red-winged Blackbird.
Saturday January 14:
Two
Townsend's Warbler are visiting suet feeders in the Divers Lake area of
Nanaimo.
Friday January 13:
A pair of
Evening Grosbeak are visiting feeders in the 2100 block of
Boxwood Road in Nanaimo.
Tuesday January 10:
The Tuesday bird walk went to the Little Qualicum River Estuary in Qualicum
Beach. The morning was clear and sunny with a strong wind off the Strait of
Georgia. The surf was up and pounding into the shore. The highlights
included seeing
Black-bellied Plover,
Black Oystercatcher, Sanderling's
and a small flock of
Dunlin near the shore at the viewing platform.
Throughout the morning, further offshore, thousands of
Common Murre were
heading up the Strait. We counted one hundred and thirty
Trumpeter Swan at
the mouth of the Little Qualicum River. A large raft of
Greater Scaup was
not far from shore.
Twenty birders including two visiting birders from Australia saw and heard
the following forty-five species of birds:
Canada Goose,
Trumpeter Swan,
American Wigeon,
Mallard,
Northern Pintail,
Green-winged Teal,
Greater Scaup,
Lesser Scaup,
Harlequin Duck,
Surf Scoter,
White-winged Scoter,
Black Scoter,
Long-tailed Duck,
Bufflehead, Common
Goldeneye,
Barrow's Goldeneye,
Common Merganser,
Red-breasted Merganser,
Pacific Loon,
Common Loon,
Horned Grebe,
Double-crested Cormorant, Great
Blue Heron,
Bald Eagle,
Black-bellied Plover,
Killdeer,
Black Oystercatcher,
Black Turnstone,
Sanderling,
Dunlin,
Mew Gull,
Herring Gull,
Thayer's Gull,
Glaucous-winged Gull,
Glaucous Gull,
Common Murre,
Belted Kingfisher,
Northwestern Crow,
Common Raven,
Chestnut-backed Chickadee,
Spotted Towhee,
Golden-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed
Junco,
Red-winged Blackbird and
House Finch.
"Rare bird alert -
Summer Tanager "
A
Summer Tanager is still being seen in the Columbia Beach area.
A
Common Redpoll was spotted in with a flock of
Pine Siskin and an American
Goldfinch by the Oak Trees on the Dyke at Buttertubs Marsh in Nanaimo.
Monday January 09:
A
Townsend's Warbler is visiting feeders along Dawkins Lane in Nanaimo.
Thursday January 05:
A small flock of
Ring-necked Duck were seen on the marsh at the end of
Harwood Road in Nanaimo.
Arrowsmith Naturalist Meeting
Monday, January 23, 2012 at,7:30 pm.
Members night.
Springwood Middle School, Parksville.
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Nanoose Naturalists Meeting
Thursday, February, 09, 2012 at 7:00 pm.
@ The Library Centre along Northwest Bay Road, Nanoose Bay
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Everyone is invited 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 will be going to Deep Bay on January 17.
We will meet at Parksville Community Park at the parking lot near the Lions
Playground at 9:00 A.M. or the Marine Harbour at Deep Bay at about 9:35 A.M.
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The Sunday bird walk on January 22 walk will be going to the Plummer Road
side of the Englishman River Estuary in Parksville.
We will meet at the Birdstore at 9:00 A.M. or the corner of Plummer Road and
Shorewood Drive at about 9:30 A.M.
Good birding
Neil Robins
THE BACKYARD Wildbird & Nature Store
6314 Metral Drive, Nanaimo, BC V9T 2L8
250-390-3669
thebackyard@shaw.ca
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG---> www.thebirdstore.blogspot.com
"VIU Science and Technology Spring Lecture Series"
As part of the VIU Science and Technology Spring Lecture Series, I have
invited Derek Matthews of the Vancouver Avian Research Centre to present
some of the interesting bird monitoring they've been conducting. The
lecture will take place on Wednesday, February 1, 19:00. The details are
available at the links below. These lectures are open to everyone.
Derek Matthews, February 1:
http://web.viu.ca/simmsw/Lecture2012/4.Matthews/4.%20Matthews.pdf
Lecture series website: http://web.viu.ca/simmsw/ (includes whole schedule,
directions and campus map)
Thanks ahead.
Cheers, Eric
Eric Demers, Ph.D., R.P.Bio.
Biology Department
Vancouver Island University
Building 359, Room 207
Phone: (250) 753-3245 local 2033