Mount Royal Cemetery, September 18+23, 2019

Cooper’s Hawk Accipiter cooperii

Gray Catbird Dumetella carolinensis

Gray Catbird Dumetella carolinensis

Northern Parula Setophaga americana

Woodchuck/Groundhog Marmota monax

probable Black-backed Woodpecker tree damage

Yeah, that's not creepy in the least

  My planned ‘all-morning’ trip to the cemeteries on September 18th wasn’t as birdy as BirdCast promised, with a total of 32 species seen in four hours. Highlights: a wacky Groundhog eating apples; a Gray Catbird eating white berries (what are they?); finally caught up with the shy Eastern Screech-Owl; heard an Eastern Wood-Pewee calling from the UdeM woods; a personal first of fall Golden-crowned Kinglet; 20+ White-throated Sparrows; and an uptick (upflick?) in Flickers (5).
  Eight warbler species were seen, including some tantalizing head-scratchers that had to be left unidentified. Sigh, I thought I had my fall warblers down. Yellow-rumped Warblers were out in force, especially in the NDNC, and there was a fat little warbler wave by the MRC north entrance on the way out.
  It was very thrushy on Rose Hill, with four Swainson’s Thrush, a Veery, and six young American Robins making the bushes rustle.
  George found a female Black-backed Woodpecker the previous day (like a boss!), but I didn’t catch up with it, and it looks like his bird was half of a pair that was subsequently seen across the street in Mount Royal Park. Cool!

  Weird weather on the 23rd – windy, rainy, and overcast but uncomfortably humid, followed by an eerie dead calm. Highlights: close looks at a Cooper’s Hawk; a young Yellow-bellied Sapsucker on Mount Murray; yet more Flicker activity, with a wave vizzing south over Mountain View; several Winter Wrens in the dark peripheries; and my first Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Dark-eyed Juncos of the year for the cemeteries. Ended up with 26 species in three hours.
  An exploratory Black-backed Woodpecker foray into the Mount Royal Park turned up tantalizing views of a Hairy Woodpecker-sized bird…that was probably a Hairy Woodpecker, but also some fresh evidence of Black-backed Woodpecker damage in a nice little patch of suitable habitat seemingly away from the GPS location of the sightings from a few days ago. Bird mysteries are fun.