Fleet Fu@#*n' Foxes

Fox Sparrow Passerella iliaca...yes, almost, one more second, turn that head...yes that's it, hop into that spot of sun...focus tightening...just press the button...

...aaaand it's gone. F@*kin' hate birds.

Hairy Woodpecker Picoides villosus getting in there

juvenile male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Sphyrapicus varius

Nashville Warbler Leiothlypis ruficapilla

Current energy levels

  A relaxed four-hour early-morning saunter east, starting at Decelles. I happily crossed paths with a spurt of Fox Sparrows moving through the small woods along the north edge of NDN. I spent a rewarding, if frustrating, half-hour sitting still and observing these large, ruddy creepers as they fossicked through the leaf litter. They are expert at posing for great pictures, and then fucking off at the last minute. 
  Rolling carpets of Dark-eyed Juncos arrived in the night (if the radars are to be trusted) – they were everywhere, muddying the waters when it came to trying to pick out other small birds. Some species were notable in their absence (Northern Flicker, Swainson’s Thrush, Gray Catbird), and numbers of Chipping and White-throated Sparrows are tailing off. 
  Believe it or not, I ran into another American Woodcock – my fourth for the cemetery, with most encounters occurring in the same area (G7, G3, G4, Oak Ridge area). It first flushed from atop the bluffy bit east of the cannons, from about ten feet away. I bumbled down after it, and as I scanned bushes it flushed again (must have been sitting out in the bloody open!) from a bit farther, and headed towards the NDN fence. It made the distinctive wing trill both times, and I got decent views the second time - chubby, peachy belly and down-angled bill.

Mount-Royal Cemetery, (Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery), October 11, 2017
Canada Goose-47 counted, many others heard
Turkey Vulture-1
Cooper’s Hawk-2 battling with crows
Merlin-(2 dueling near the U de M football field)
Peregrine Falcon-(1 at U de M)
American Woodcock-1 flushed from the bluffs at G7, down into G3, then again towards Oak Ridge/NDN fence
Ring-billed Gull-(9)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker-1 juvenile male
Downy Woodpecker-2
Hairy Woodpecker-2
Eastern Phoebe-(1)
Blue Jay-2 (1)
American Crow-45+ (8)
Common Raven-2
Black-capped Chickadee-12+ (8+)
Brown Creeper-1
White-breasted Nuthatch-2
Red-breasted Nuthatch-6+ in E5
Winter Wren-2 (2)
Golden-crowned Kinglet-1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet-12+ (10+)
Eastern Bluebird-4+ in L2, (2)
Hermit Thrush-5 (1)
Nashville Warbler-1 on Pine Hill Side
Yellow-rumped Warbler-9+ mostly in the southern edge, (1)
Northern Cardinal-2
Chipping Sparrow-12 (5)
Song Sparrow-2
Fox Sparrow-4 on Mountain View, (13 well seen, well counted)
White-throated Sparrow-12+ (5)
Dark-eyed Junco-175+ (95+)