Eastbirding

Coulée-Grou

George and Shrijeet puzzle through a warbler wave

Birds giving side-eye to playback = awesome

Tennessee Warbler Leiothlypis peregrina

Belted Kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon

Belted Kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon

Solitary Sandpiper Tringa solitaria
(my mind slipped and I thought I was in Korea looking at a Green Sandpiper for a moment)

Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps

Common Gallinule Gallinula galeata

Locust Borer Megacyllene robiniae

Praying mantid (European mantis) Mantis religiosa

  George, Shrijeet, and I struck east today for six hours of birding in Montreal’s far east end. Thanks for driving, George! There were entertaining rivulets of warblers at PN de la Pte-aux-Prairies/Secteur du Fleuve to pick through, and a nice Philadelphia Vireo. The skies morphed from summer to autumn over the course of the day, but that was bound to happen. I like it.

  At the ‘Secteur des Marais’ of the same park, Shrijeet and George saw a Virginia Rail-sized blob zip across the path into thick lacings of reeds. We then heard (and recorded) some classic Virginia Rail tweeking sounds (shakes fist at the reeds).

  Parc de la Coulée-Grou is a bit of an interesting spot. Not so much a park as what looks like the site of a planned housing development that has been overgrown for about 20 years, with several promising swampy patches hidden away. In the water hazard of a golf course, we found eight Common Gallinules (including juvies), a  young Pied-billed Grebe, and a showy Belted Kingfisher holding court. Good times.

Here are Shrijeet’s eBird checklists:

PN de la Pte-aux-Prairies--Secteur du Fleuve
PN de la Pte-aux-Prairies--Secteur des Marais

Parc de la Coulée-Grou