A summit return

Bay-breasted Warbler Setophaga castanea

Bay-breasted Warbler Setophaga castanea

male Black-throated Blue Warbler Setophaga caerulescens

female Black-throated Blue Warbler Setophaga caerulescens

American Redstart Setophaga ruticilla

Yellow-rumped Warbler Setophaga coronata

Black-throated Green Warbler Setophaga virens

Blue-headed Vireo Vireo solitarius

Hairy Woodpecker Picoides villosus

Trillium trail on the summit

  A year ago, I was waking up at 5am to go spring birding on Korean Islands in the Yellow Sea. These days, some 5am’s see me working the graveyard shift somewhere I worked 20 years ago – just for shits and giggles. That being the case, I haven’t been able to get out for any early morning birding, on top of the whole pandemic thing.

  The sunny weather and zugunruhe finally got under my wings this afternoon. In a daze, I put on my mask and walked up to the Westmount Summit in sweaty, sunny weather, with a high in the 20s.
  After a winding circuit of the summit, I settled for a paltry haul of two warbler species, until a late rally near the entrance path, where I encountered a small but personally long-overdue warbler wave. The birds were seemingly fresh-in – most came in roughly from the south, and were feeding actively in the mid- to low-level of the woods. All were quite unwary.
  Among their numbers were two of my absolute fave wood-warbler – Bay-breasted Warbler. I appreciate how they buck the trend of wearing ‘warbler yellow,’ opting instead for subdued raspberry smears.
  I hadn’t been to the Westmount Summit since August 2017. Hmm, I haven’t been to the cemeteries since December 2019.

  Nothing much else to report.

Westmount Summit, May 20, 2020
Turkey Vulture-6
Merlin-1
Herring Gull-1
Knifebir…er…Chimney Swift-3+
Downy Woodpecker-1
Hairy Woodpecker-2
Eastern Phoebe-1 heard
Great Crested Flycatcher-1-2 heard
Blue-headed Vireo-2
American Crow-2
(Hirundine sp.-1 briefly seen from far off, not a Chimney Swift)
Black-capped Chickadee-4
White-breasted Nuthatch-1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet-2+ heard
Swainson’s Thrush-3
American Robin-3
European Starling-3 over nearby houses
Black-throated Blue Warbler-1 male, 3 females
Black-throated Green Warbler-3
Yellow-rumped Warbler-2
Bay-breasted Warbler-2 males
American Redstart-2 males
Ovenbird-1
(Scarlet Tanager-1 possibly heard in the distance)
Northern Cardinal-1-2 heard
Chipping Sparrow-2 heard
American Goldfinch-4+ overhead
House Finch-1 heard

Return of the Knifebirds

Chimney Swift Chaetura pelagica

  In Korea, the most common member of the Apodidae family is the Pacific Swift, known locally as ‘Kalsae’ – knifebird. Its Montreal counterpart is the Chimney Swift, known in French as ‘Martinet ramoneur’ – chimney sweeper swift. Knifebird sounds way more badass, so that is what I shall refer to them as, forevermore.
  My personal first-of-year Knifebirds were spotted today in NDG chittering high overhead, while I was sipping Maxim Korean instant coffee and reading a book about survival in Greenland. I guess I should have written "they were knifing high overhead."