The Backyard's Weekly Bird Walk locations are found in the Backyard Bird Report at the very end of the most recent report. Any cancellations will be posted by 8am the day of the walk.

Tuesday 3 February 2015

Parksville/Qualicum beach Tuesday bird walk, Febuary 03, 2015

The Tuesday bird walk went to the Rathtrevor Provincial Park in Parksville. The morning was cloudy and the winds were calm, but it was a little choppy further off shore on the Strait  of Georgia.  A flock of well over one hundred singing Pine Siskins flew overhead at the start of the walk—they are back!  An estimated five hundred to six hundred Dunlin, thirty Surfbirds, twenty Black-bellied Plovers and four Black Turnstones were feeding at the tide line and in the tide pools nearby.  A large mixed flock of gulls---Mew Gulls, Thayer’s Gulls, California Gulls and Glaucous-winged Gulls--were also feeding and resting along the shoreline.  A very large number of Pacific Loons, many Common Murre, several Red-breasted Mergansers, a Pigeon Guillemot, a Marbled Murrelet and two Eared Grebe were seen further offshore.    
Surfbirds: Ralph Hocken Photo.
                                                                                                                                                     Twenty birders saw and heard the following forty-one species:
Brant
Mallard
Harlequin Duck
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Bufflehead
    Common Goldeneye
                      Barrow’s Goldeneye                 

 Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Long-tailed Duck
Red-necked Grebe
Horned Grebe
Eared Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Bald Eagle
Black-bellied Plover
Black Turnstone
Dunlin
Surfbird
Mew Gull
Thayer’s Gull
California Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Pigeon Guillemot
Marbled Murrelet
Common Murre
Northwestern Crow
Common Raven
American Robin
Varied Thrush
Anna’s Hummingbird
       Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Pacific Wren
Bewick’s Wren
Spotted Towhee
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Song Sparrow 
Pine Siskin 

The Tuesday bird walk on February 10, 2015 will be going to Columbia Beach.                                                          

Eared Grebe: Ralph Hocken Photo. 

Good birding
Neil Robins
Parksville

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