Three nerds, three toes

Pine Grosbeak Pinicola enucleator

Does this hat make me look floofy?

Walkway to the poorhouse

Treetop tourist trap tower
(Say that three times fast)

I bet that hotel was a great place to get into bar fights in the 1970s

February 25, 2023, Parc écotouristique de la MRC des Laurentides

  Went up north with George and Anthony for a nosy around a spot near Tremblant. Some dude lucked into a Three-toed Woodpecker there the other day, probably in the damn parking lot. The location was a tourist-trappy ‘raised walking platform through the treetops’ thing – please enter through the gift shop. We avoided the platform, and the outrageous $30 per head entry fee, and opted for the lovely (and free) trails, which were a whole 20 feet below the walkway. It was ‘heat packs in gloves and boots’ cold up there, but mercifully, there was not a puff of wind in the hills.

  There was loads of great Three-toed habitat along the trails, and plenty of evidence of recent bark stripping, but alas, no luck with the target bird. No doubt we walked right under a few, as they’re a quiet, unobtrusive species that is surely often overlooked. It was worth a shot, eh. Was nice to get up into the boreal cold with some fellow bird nerds, of course, and as always.

  We tallied a grand total of four species (single-digit numbers of Hairy Woodpecker, Common Raven, Black-capped Chickadee, and Pine Grosbeak), with American Crows and Wild Turkeys spotted on the ride. The Pine Grosbeaks afforded lovely close looks, as they fed on crab apples next to the parking lot. When I glimpsed the barred grey wing, chunky grey body, and long-looking tail, I yelped “Mockingbird!” before I could take it back. Oops. Oddly enough, a Northern Mockingbird was spotted in the exact same tree a couple of weeks ago. Cue X-Files theme music.