The Christmas Bird Diary

Cozy retro Montreal holiday bird mystery alert! 

My book "The Christmas Bird Diary" is being re-released in English and French, with illustrations by the illustra-tious Dan Svatek! The good folks at The Stygian Society will be ensuring timely shipping this time (Dark Flock experienced some logistical snags with the supplier). Shipping free for Montreal residents!

Pre-order by clicking here.

Set against the backdrop of a snowy 1960s Montreal, "The Christmas Bird Diary" follows Mairin Lang, a university student returning home for the holidays. What begins as a typical family Christmas soon transforms into an intriguing scientific mystery when Mairin discovers her late grandfather Murray's ornithological diary.

*October 7 note from The Stygian Society:*

"Bird Diary Backers!

It has come to our attention that Indiegogo has been implementing a sneaky little tip at checkout when our backers make an order.

Unfortunately, this is not a feature we have any control over.

That being said, you do not have to tip!

To avoid the tip, simply enter 0 in that space in checkout. And, if you have already had this add-on tacked onto your bill, you can cancel your backing and re-pledge without the tip.

Apologies if there has been confusion around this. We only just found out about it now ourselves.

Thank you again for your support and we hope you're having a wonderful start to your week.

(If you haven't supported yet, please do so! If you're located in Montreal, shipping is free.)"

Autumn, Fall, etc

Cooper’s Hawk Accipiter cooperii

Find the Winter Wren Troglodytes hiemalis

Common Raven Corvus corax

Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina

Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina

Eastern Grey Squirrel Sciurus carolinensis

Super Harvest Moon in partial eclipse

NDG, Sept 22, 2024

-Plenty of Chipping Sparrows around, in a confusing mix of plumages.

-A Winter Wren tisked several times from dense brush, but would not show itself.

-I watched a squadron of Northern Flickers fly across a clearing. Just as the last one was about to reach the relative safety of a row of trees, a Cooper’s Hawk collided with it in a dramatic mid-air puff of feathers. The flicker gave a long call as the pair fell into the grass in a spinning tangle, then went silent. The Cooper’s Hawk fed for a good long while, while the other Northern Flickers called angrily from the trees.

-Decent numbers of Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows moving through the scrubby edges.

-No warblers or kinglets, bummer.

-Still quite buggy.

-18 species in 90 minutes.

Birds of late, late

White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis

American Robin Turdus migratorius
(juvenile)

Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapillus

Woodchuck/Groundhog/Siffleur Marmota monax

Catching up, innit.

NDG, September 15

-Hot and summery, feeling like 30+ degrees

-Black flies were out in full force, silently tearing chunks from my scalp

-The Song Sparrow nursery has cleared out, but I stumbled across quite a few juvenile American Robins bumbling around in a dark woods

-Seasonal movement: 6+ Northern Flickers and 8+ White-throated Sparrows

-12 species in an hour

-No warblers

Blackburnian Warbler Setophaga fusca

Bay-breasted Warbler Setophaga castanea

Wilson’s Warbler Cardellina pusilla

Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia

Eastern Grey Squirrel Sciurus carolinensis

NDG, September 8

-Plenty of warblers peeping through the treetops, but the stout wind and backlit overcast made finding and identifying them tricky

-Five warbler species (low single-digit numbers of Magnolia, Cape May, Blackburnian, Bay-breasted, and Wilson’s Warbler)

-16 species in 2 hours

-12 degrees and blustery

Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus

Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina

NDG, September 1

-Pretty quiet on the first of September, with 9 species in 90 minutes

-Two ‘sparrow nurseries’ were encountered (Song and Chipping Sparrow)

Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis

Clouded Sulphur Colias philodice

NDG, August 27

-12 species in an hour

-A migrating Eastern Wood-Pewee was notable

Common Nighthawk Chordeiles minor

Common Nighthawk Chordeiles minor

Red-bellied Woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus
Tufted Titmouse Baeolophus bicolour

Carolina Wren Thryothorus ludovicianus

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea

Eastern Wood-Pewee Contopus virens

Nyawk, August 24-25

Awesome to watch a platoon of Common Nighthawks overhead at dusk on the 24th. They circled and fluttered overhead for five minutes before melting away to the south. A small patch of woods in the hills of Saugerties held a bounty of species that are uncommon in the Montreal area, such as Carolina Wren, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and Wood Thrush (and the aforementioned Common Nighthawk).

Beauharnois area, August 22, 2024

Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia

Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia

Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus
Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis

Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus
Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis

Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica

Hirundine IQ quiz...

Tree Swallow Tachycineta bicolor
(Mostly)

Cape May Warbler Setophaga tigrina

Yellow Warbler Setophaga petechia

Magnolia Warbler Setophaga magnolia

Pine Warbler Setophaga pinus

Belted Kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon

White-striped Black Moth Trichodezia albovittata

Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum

Parc de la Pointe-du-Buisson

Oaky warbler field

Ahhh, sewage

Popped southwest for an early autumnal birding session with George yesterday. We tallied about 70 species at Parc de la Pointe-du-Buisson in Beauharnois, a nearby sewage treatment plant, and points between.

At PDLPDB, a row of dead trees in a lovely wet meadow fringed by old oaks was super birdy - nine warbler species, and a good collection of migrating birds gave us acute cases of warbler neck.

A nearby sewage treatment plant held a hirundine IQ quiz, as well as a pair of spinning Red-necked Phalaropes. I love a good phalarope.