Plus ça change...

...plus c'est la même chose. I believe the time is right to bring droopy red sweatpants back to the birding scene.

Boisé Ste-Dorothée, Laval, March 10, 2021

American Tree Sparrow Spizella arborea

Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura

Meadow Vole Microtus pennsylvanicus

  Lovely double-digit weather out for a ramble around Laval’s Boisé Ste-Dorothée, with 16 species logged. No owls were encountered, but it was nice knowing they were around. American Tree Sparrows were out in force — both singing from the tops of, and skulking under, the bushes. A Meadow Vole on a rubber band entertained as it repeatedly popped out of a strategically placed burrow entrance right under a feeder station.

Rock the Monocs

  Here I am rocking my ersatz travel-sized optics (they’re not broken binoculars…they’re monoculars!) at LaSalle’s Parc des Rapides, way back in the late 80s. Note the all-wood, semi-portable quad-pod, for added stability. From the dim/baffled expression I’m wearing, I reckon I’m probably trying to figure out gulls. I still am. This may or not have been on the PQSPB trip where I took the world’s first digi-scope picture ever. EVER!

  P.S. Extra points have been given for the Crayon Pop bike helmet.

  P.P.S. I dream-quest visions of something super rare turning up in the cemeteries in the very near future. Along the fence-line.

Raretés hivernales

White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis

White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis

Hermit Thrush Catharus guttatus

female Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis

male Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis

Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens

Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapillus

Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis

Current mood

Secret path

Parc Jean-Drapeau, March 3, 2021

  A lovely winter’s day for a long afternoon bimble round Parc Jean-Drapeau. Loads of Northern Cardinals were out and about, and well-dispersed, with a conservative count of 20. Eight White-winged Crossbills drew a crowd as they fed in tall pines north of the Jardins des Floralies.

  ‘Raretés hivernales’ came in the form of a White-throated Sparrow (near P5) and a Hermit Thrush (near the Watersports Pavillion), both shy and skulky. Not mind-blowing records, but interesting to see a few summery birds sticking it out through Montreal’s wicked wacky winter. First-of-year birds included Canada Geese (5) and a Ring-billed Gull.

  Ended with 18 species on the day, in spite of numerous ‘easy’ species missed. All in all, a lively little patch, I’ll try to check it out in spring this time.