Thursday, May 21, 2020

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

Saturday, May 16, 2020

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."