Mountains more

fledgeling Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis

Northern Crayfish Orconectes virilis

A leech, grody

   No woodpeckers? In a boreal forest? Not a one. Some other critters out and about though, and already south-bound warblers to viz-mig. Oh, I found a big ol' Grey Wolf poop.

Mont-Tremblant National Park (Lac Poisson, Lac des Femmes), August 15, 2018
Common Loon-1
Common Goldeneye-3 at Lac des Femmes
Chimney Swift-1 heard
Red-eyed Vireo-4+ heard
Blue Jay-1
American Crow-2
Common Raven-2
Black-capped Chickadee-10+
White-breasted Nuthatch-5+
Red-breasted Nuthatch-1
Winter Wren-3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet-2
Cape May Warbler-1
Blackburnian Warbler-2 with a group of vizzing warblers that coalesced around a core of Black-capped Chickadees at Lac des Femmes
Black-throated Blue Warbler-2 female-types
Black-throated Green Warbler-6+
Yellow-rumped Warbler-1
Common Yellowthroat-1 female
Song Sparrow-3
White-throated Sparrow-3
Dark-eyed Junco-2 (an adult tending a fledgeling)

Whistle-twitch

Secteur des Marais

Black-bellied Whistling Duck Dendrocygna autumnalis

the head of a juvenile Sora Porzana carolina...honest...

Swamp Sparrow Melospiza georgiana

juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater

  Drove out with the Scottsman today for a blatant twitch of the Black-bellied Whistling Duck that’s been hanging out on the eastern tip of the island for almost a month. It wasn’t easy to see at first through the reeds, but patience and tippy-toes go a long way in the swamp – there’s a Hallmark card right there. A juvenile Sora was an unexpected bonus.

PN de la Pte-aux-Prairies, Secteur des Marais, August 9, 2018
Double-crested Cormorant-2
Great Blue Heron-1
Green Heron-3
Black-bellied Whistling Duck-1
Wood Duck-40+
Mallard-2
American Black Duck-1
Gadwall-2
Turkey Vulture-1
Northern Harrier-1
Virginia Rail-1 possibly heard from across the pond
Sora-1 skulky juvenile well-seen - striped flanks, warm brown upperparts, warm buffy chest, short yellowish bill, short cocked tail with white underparts. And no, it was not a Black-crowned Night Heron...
Ring-billed Gull-6+
Mourning Dove-1
Downy Woodpecker-2
Hairy Woodpecker-1
Northern Flicker-3
Eastern Wood Pewee-1
Willow Flycatcher-1
Eastern Phoebe-1
Eastern Kingbird-3
Blue Jay-1
American Crow-2
Tree Swallow-2
Black-capped Chickadee-6+
American Robin-5
Gray Catbird-2
Cedar Waxwing-6+
Yellow Warbler-6
American Redstart-4
Common Yellowthroat-1
Northern Cardinal-4
Song Sparrow-5
Swamp Sparrow-2
Brown-headed Cowbird-1 juvenile being fed by its diminutive Song Sparrow surrogate mother
American Goldfinch-10+, mostly males in outrageously bright breeding plumage, some feeding on thistles

North sweats

Broad-winged Hawk Buteo platypterus

Black-throated Blue Warbler Setophaga caerulescens

Black-throated Green Warbler Setophaga virens

American Red Squirrel Tamiasciurus hudsonicus

Eastern Chipmunk Tamias striatus ('un suisse' en francais)

Northern Green Frog Rama clamitans

  It was hotter’n two hamsters farting in a wool sock up at Tremblant yesterday. Humid as all get out, too. And it was quiet...too quiet. There were long temporal and topographic stretches where absolute silence predominated, not a creature was stirring. It was nice to zen out on a hilly horizon completely devoid of signs of human interference. On the mammal front, at one point a larger Mustelid scampered down a trail – perhaps a Marten or Fisher?
  I heard some odd calls, and got several maddeningly fleeting glances at Hairy Woodpecker-sized woodpeckers of unknown heritage. Black-backed? Perhaps even Three-toed (my new white whale)? Only the boreal forest knows.
  Birding in the deep summer, ugh. The winds tend to slip from my birding sails during these doldrums – when the migrants aren’t around, the breeding birds have shut up, the bugs are out, and the heat and humidity conspire to kill you with ‘death by a thousand sweaty pores.’ I suppose more cheery birders would yelp out encouraging advice like study up on those juvenile birds, put on some mosquito repellant, and get on out there and embrace the summer! Having long ago embraced my inner curmudgeon, I offer no such smug platitudes. If you don’t want to go birding in the summer, don’t. You have my permission. You even have my persimmon.
  Speaking of persimmons, in other news...Gangneung.

Mont-Tremblant National Park (Lac Chat/Atocha, Sentier Centenaire), August 6, 2018
Common Loon-1
Great Blue Heron-1 nearby, from the car
Turkey Vulture- 4
Broad-winged Hawk-2
Merlin-1
Ring-billed Gull-several nearby, from the car
Chimney Swift-3+
Ruby-throated Hummingbird-1
Woodpecker sp.-4 mystery peckers briefly seen/heard...
Red-eyed Vireo-5, adults and juveniles
Blue-headed Vireo-1
Blue Jay-3
Common Raven-3
Barn Swallow-1 nearby, from the car
Black-capped Chickadee-10+
Red-breasted Nuthatch-6+
Golden-crowned Kinglet-4+
Catharus thrush sp.-1 juvenile
American Robin-2
Nashville Warbler-1 adult male, 1 female
Chestnut-sided Warbler-1 singing at Lac Chat
Black-throated Blue Warbler-3 juveniles calling in different spots
Black-throated Green Warbler-2
Yellow-rumped Warbler-1 adult male
Rose-breasted Grosbeak-1 female-type
White-throated Sparrow-3
Dark-eyed Junco-2
Red-winged Blackbird-4 nearby, from the car
Common Grackle-1 nearby, from the car