76er

Yellow-throated Vireo Vireo flavifrons

Palm Warbler Setophaga palmarum

Yellow-rumped Warbler Setophaga coronata

Pine Warbler Setophaga pinus

Baltimore Oriole Icterus galbula

Brown Thrasher Toxostoma rufum

White-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys

Swamp Sparrow Melospiza georgiana

Gray Catbird Dumetella carolinensis

Tufted Titmouse Baeolophus bicolour
(social distancing)

Blue-winged Teal Anas discors

Canada Goose Branta Canadensis

Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis

Solitary Sandpiper Tringa solitaria

Wilson’s Snipe Gallinago delicata

White-tailed Deer Odocoileus virginianus

Northern Raccoon Procyon lotor

Northern Raccoon Procyon lotor

CF-18B

Reserve Faunique Marguerite-D’Youville, Île Sainte-Bernard, Châteauguay, May 11, 2021

  Another practice run towards a ‘D’ville Hundo,’ with 76 species logged over 10 hours in the field. That’s a respectable count, but it’s hard to crack 100 with only five warbler species kicking around. Seems like the warblers still haven’t showed up en masse…probably got plugged up somewhere down south due to the relatively cool weather we’ve been having this spring. The weather was certainly not helping the situation on this day, with tuques, thick gloves, and neck tubes being the necessary accessories of the day.

  One of the first birds of the day was also the best. Where the trees begin just after the ‘bluebird fields,’ a bird flashed over the path. I got on it pretty quick, and, at a very unbirder-like volume, screeched ‘Yellow-throated Vireo!’ at the top of my lungs, before I knew what was happening. A small crowd of nearby photogs and birders soon congregated under the rare bird, and it was cool that so many folks got a look at it before it squirted off towards the horizon.

  It was awesome to get close looks at Solitary Sandpiper (so Green Sandpiper-like!) and Wilson’s Snipe towards dusk. The Wilson’s Snipe looked identical to the Common Snipes I saw in Korea, and had me wondering if I would be able to tell the two apart if they were sitting next to each other. The answer is definitely not.

(*Whoops I did a recount...77. 77er?)