Last of the Fall Warblers II

Orange-crowned Warbler Vermivora celata

Orange-crowned Warbler Vermivora celata

Wilson’s Warbler Cardellina pusilla

Blackpoll Warbler Setophaga striata

Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas

Golden-crowned Kinglet Regulus satrapa

Quiet spot in NDN, good for sparrows, warblers and more

Oh the leaves, they are a'changing

Map of Mount-Royal Cemetery

  Last night as my lids drooped, some bird observatories posted mouth-watering radar images online of a strong nocturnal migration that was underway. You had me at ‘birds’, I’m in. 
  Started mid-morning in the NDN Cemetery, by the Decelles entrance. The radar wasn't lying - the areas on the western edge with small trees (on either side of the mausoleums) were jammed with birds: sparrows and Swainson’s on the ground, bluebirds on graves, warblers up top. 
  One mid-sized tree held a warbler IQ test that would give most birders fits – I had my fair share while picking through it for ten head-scratching minutes. A drab Common Yellowthroat mingled with lookalike Nashville and Tennessee Warblers, along with flitty Ruby-crowned Kinglets thrown in to muddy the avian waters. 
  Just when I thought I had a handle on the situation, the ultimate ‘blind men and the elephant’ birds showed up amidst the other drab tree-candy. I mumbled to myself like Heath Ledger’s Joker for a few minutes before I realized I was looking at three (three!!) Orange-crowned Warblers! No joke. I watched each individual fly off to the next field over, one at a time. These birds were the fourth, fifth, and sixth OCWA I’ve seen...ever. Further thin bands of warblers were found in the north and east of the NDN Cemetery.

  There were more warblers mingling around the edges of the Mount-Royal Cemetery in the afternoon - a small wave heading down Mountain View, and another concentration rallying through L2-L5-Pine Hill.

  The Painted Lady migration has dialed way down, with relatively few seen today. Anyway, here are some crappy pics, as per usual.

Mount-Royal Cemetery, (Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery), September 21, 2017 

Turkey Vulture-5 circling high on a thermal, 1 cruising low
Sharp-shinned Hawk-1 or 2
Cooper’s Hawk-1 attended by crows
Ring-billed Gull-(2)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker-1 juv in L2
Downy Woodpecker-1
Hairy Woodpecker-1
Northern Flicker-4 (2)
Eastern Phoebe-1 (1)
Blue Jay-1 (1)
American Crow-8+ (3)
Black-capped Chickadee-10 (8)
White-breasted Nuthatch-2
Winter Wren-2 (1)
Golden-crowned Kinglet-6
Ruby-crowned Kinglet-6 (8)
Eastern Bluebird-2 (3...one adult male was being harassed by begging juv Chipping Sparrows, which I also witnessed last week in the same spot)
Swainson’s Thrush-4 (4)
Grey Catbird-3
Cedar Waxwing-5
Tennessee Warbler-3 (2)
Nashville Warbler-1 (2)
Orange-crowned Warbler-(3!)
Magnolia Warbler-3 (2)
Cape May Warbler-1
Blackburnian Warbler-2
Black-throated Green Warbler-1 (1)
Yellow-rumped Warbler-5 (2)
Palm Warbler-3 (1)
Blackpoll Warbler-1
Common Yellowthroat-(1)
Ovenbird-(1)
Canada Warbler-1 probable near Pine Hill (got brief but decent looks at a two-toned warbler, plainish face with a faint eye-ring – apparently unmarked undersides rich yellow from chin through to white vent, all dark grey on top, no wing bars...)
Wilson’s Warbler-1 (1)
Northern Cardinal-5
Chipping Sparrow-25+ (4)
Song Sparrow-4 (1)
White-crowned Sparrow-(1)
White-throated Sparrow-25+ (12+)
Dark-eyed Junco-15 (1)
American Goldfinch-4 (3)