Vernal revenants

House Wren Troglodytes aedon

  The ebbs and flows of spring migration were conspicuous today, on a gorgeous sunny and fresh morning in the cemeteries. We find ourselves in that awkward quiet day or two before the main force of warblers shows up, but when the sparrows have mostly cleared out. Notable species on the wane included Northern Flicker, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, Chipping Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco.
  Personal spring firsts for the site were Merlin, Blue Jay, House Wren, Gray Catbird, and, if my bird-word is to be trusted, an Orange-crowned Warbler. The bird was skulking in the dense brush on Pine Hill Side. I got brief but clear bino views of a warbler with greenish back, dirty yellow underparts with shadowy streaks, a dark line through the eye with only a hint of a broken light eyebrow, and a flash of bright yellow undertail coverts. The bird skulked somethin' fierce, and could not be re-found after it disappeared into the shadows in a puff of purple sparkle-smoke.
  Coming soon: the rest of the warblers, Red-eyed Vireos, Indigo Buntings, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Baltimore Orioles, and, unfortunately, those confusing flycatchers.

Mount-Royal Cemetery, (Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery), May 8, 2018
Mallard-1
Turkey Vulture-1 (1)
Cooper’s Hawk-2
Merlin-2 shrilling near the north entrance
Ring-billed Gull-(1)
Downy Woodpecker-1 (1)
Hairy Woodpecker-1
Northern Flicker-7 (2)
Pileated Woodpecker-1
Blue-headed Vireo-1 (1)
Blue Jay-2
American Crow-5 (3)
Black-capped Chickadee-6 (7)
White-breasted Nuthatch-(2)
Red-breasted Nuthatch-2
House Wren-1 (1)
Winter Wren-1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet-11 (5)
Eastern Bluebird-4 (2 at a natural nesting hole)
Hermit Thrush-2 (1)
American Robin-2 (3)
Gray Catbird-2
Orange-crowned Warbler-1 skulking on Pine Hill Side
Black-throated Green Warbler-1 in the woods north of Mountain View
Yellow-rumped Warbler-2 or 3 in the woods north of Mountain View
American Redstart-1 male singing in the same spot for a few days (a pair nested there last year)
Northern Cardinal-4 (2)
Chipping Sparrow-20+ (9)
Song Sparrow-4 (3)
White-crowned Sparrow-1 in E5
White-throated Sparrow-7
Dark-eyed Junco-5
Red-winged Blackbird-1 flying east from Mountain View
American Goldfinch-10 (7)
Pine Siskin-2
House Finch-(1 or 2 singing near Decelles)
Purple Finch-1 female at the feeder