Westmount Summit, Jardin Botanique, Point aux Prairies Park, February 10, 2014

Don't mouse the owls

Pointe aux Prairies

Still not used to seeing clots of other birders. Although I saw a lot more cameras than binos...

Deer bed at P-a-P. Front legs at the left, rump at right

P-a-P 'interesting' gull assemblage at dusk

Scanning for creepers 

Westmount Summit

P-a-P Park

female House Finch Haemorhous mexicanus

Red-breasted Nuthatch Sitta canadensis

Pine Grosbeak Pinicola enucleator

American Goldfinch Spinus tristis

Pine Grosbeak Pinicola enucleator

Pine Grosbeak Pinicola enucleator

Pine Grosbeak Pinicola enucleator

female Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus

female Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis

  It was a gorgeous sunny day for a winter birding marathon, with close to 25 species seen. Dan and I first stopped in at the Westmount Summit, where the most notable bird was an elusive Brown Creeper. We spotted it in the same remote spot where I saw one way back in 2008. We followed a hot tip about a nearby Great Horned Owl, but all was quiet on that front today.

  Next it was back to the Botanical Gardens in the east end, where we hoped to get some more Redpoll experience. We quickly spotted a half dozen birder/photographers swarmed under a berry tree. They were all after a group of four stunning female Pine Grosbeaks. They reminded me of parrots, as they curled around branches to get after the berries, their rumps and heads sparkling orange in the sun. Two of the grosbeaks were much more subdued, with only minimal yellowish colouring around their heads. We later got great close views of a handful of American Goldfinch and House Finch. Coming from quiet Korea(where each foreign birder is issued his own province, haha), it was bizarre to be in the midst of a dozen or so birders/photographers!

  At the Point aux Prairies Park we were thrilled to have a close encounter with a massive female Pileated Woodpecker and some White-tailed Deer. In the nearby St-Lawrence River we scanned a large raft of about 300 gulls, with interesting results. So interesting that...expect a gull post in the near future.

Westmount Summit

Downy Woodpecker - 2

Black-capped Chickadee - 8

Brown Creeper - 1

White-breasted Nuthatch - 3

Northern Cardinal – 1

En route

Rock Pigeon – 20+

American Crow - 6

European Starling – 10

House Sparrow - 12

Jardin Botanique

Downy Woodpecker - 2

Black-capped Chickadee – 30+

White-breasted Nuthatch - 3

Red-breasted Nuthatch - 1

Northern Cardinal – 2

Dark-eyed Junco - 20

American Goldfinch – 2

Common Redpoll – 40+

House Finch – 4

Pine Grosbeak - 4

Point aux Prairies Park

Common Merganser – 2

Mourning Dove - 5

Downy Woodpecker - 1

Hairy Woodpecker -1

Pileated Woodpecker – 1

Black-capped Chickadee – 40+

Northern Cardinal – 7

House Finch – 3

+INTERESTING GULLS! (stay tuned)