Tuesday, November 25, 2025

Black-throated Gray Warbler twitch, Cap-Saint-Jacques, November 22, 2025

Black-throated Gray Warbler Setophaga nigrescens










L’attroupement





Black-throated Gray Warbler (The original BTGW) – not a bird I ever expected to see in these parts. This species breeds in the western half of North America and winters down Mexico way, but every year some get mixed up and turn up on the east coast. This individual has been present and very twitchable at Cap-Saint-Jacques for over a week, and was still around when I went for it with George and Harry on Saturday last. Still a decent crowd out, and it was nice to walk around the site after the warbler. Haven’t been up there in a while.

Monday, November 17, 2025

Junco and friends: NDG, October 25-November 15

Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia

Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens

Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis








Birding at my local NDG spot continues, post-Greece.

October 25
Cloudy and 5 degrees – it was ‘see my breath/neckwarmer and gloves’ weather for sure.

When I turned on my camera, I found that the battery was dead. I swapped the battery out for my backup, and found that one was also dead. So I put one battery in my glove, and the other one in a pocket near my armpit, and 20 minutes later, both had enough charge to get me through the walk. Try it out in an emergency!

-16 species in 90 minutes
-130 Dark-eyed Junco
-12 White-throated Sparrow
-2 Hermit Thrush
-1 Winter Wren


Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis
Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina

Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia

Cooper’s Hawk Accipiter cooperii

Eastern Cottontail Sylvilagus floridanus





November 1
Early into the walk I flushed a mid-sized brownish bird from the ground, in a park-like area with bushes. It zipped around a corner and disappeared. It gave rounded Woodcock vibes, rather than pointy Flicker vibes, if that makes any sense. I didn’t hear anything when it flushed, as I was stood under a windy pine at the time. I don’t have American Woodcock on my site list, so it’s too bad I didn’t get a solid ID. The area seems like a highly suitable spot for migrating Woodcocks, so I’m kind of surprised (insulted?) that I haven’t encountered one there yet. Gotta save something for next March I guess.

-5 degrees, windy and cloudy
-12 species in 90 minutes
-13 Dark-eyed Juncos
-1 Chipping Sparrow


Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis





November 8
With a big dump of snow coming the next day, I was hoping for some ‘weird’ bird action, but there was nothing out of place.

-10 species in 90 minutes
-9 and sunny and quite windy
-A single showy Golden-crowned Kinglet
-Junco numbers at about 25
-No woodpeckers


American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos

Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis

Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapillus

Zoof!

Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis

Brown Creeper Certhia Americana









Current mood

November 15
-15 species in 90 minutes
-Sunny and -4 (a tuque-->ballcap--->tuque--->ballcap kind of day)
-Heavy snow came on November 9-11 and has stuck around. More inbound.
-Felt birdy!
-Two skeins of Canada Goose overhead
-A European Starling doing a Ruby-crowned Kinglet impression got a confused giggle out of me.
-A Northern Flicker lurked.
-Around the edges, a dozen Dark-eyed Juncos.
-The local crew of Black-capped Chickadees was very active.
-A Brown Creeper…crept.
-Several American Goldfinch heard overflying, but still no signs of the other spicier finches being seen at the cems in this irruption year (A Korean birder once told me “There are many spices of Bunting today.” – I love ‘spices’ instead of ‘species,’ and will be using it from now on).