Notes from the north

Bohemian Waxwing Bombycilla garrulus

Bohemian Waxwing Bombycilla garrulus

White-winged Crossbill Loxia leucoptera

White-winged Crossbill Loxia leucoptera

White-winged Crossbill Loxia leucoptera

Pine Siskin Carduelis pinus

Pine Siskin Carduelis pinus

Pine Siskin Carduelis pinus

Evening Grosbeak Coccothraustes vespertinus

Evening Grosbeak Coccothraustes vespertinus

American Red Squirrel Tamiasciurus hudsonicus

Harry waiting to dig a hole

Harry digging a hole

Harry playing in a hole

“Hello, welcome to Harrycorp, how may I help you today?”

Intense fog in NDG

-Went up north with George, Anthony, and Harry yesterday.

-Way too hot for the time of year, especially in the boreal forest.

-We got a solid taste of boreal birds, with most expected finches encountered.

-A flock of 30-ish Bohemian Waxwings on mainstreet Saint-Donat was a pleasant surprise. They were spotted in a fruiting tree, then moved to a nearby conifer.

-White-winged Crossbills and Pine Siskins were spotted by roadside, getting after the salt and grit.

- Always a treat to clap peepers on Hawfinch-like Evening Grosbeaks, as they tend to stay up north.

-A Golden-crowned Kinglet heard near Tremblant.

-Three Wild Turkeys and a Ring-billed Gull spotted from the car near Prévost.

-20ish species on the day.

  It was foggy as all get-up last night ‘round midnight. I was monitoring a flight tracking app, commiserating with the poor bastards that were circling for 90 minutes, before having to divert to Québec City due to fuel issues. The pea soup fog and temperature hovering just above zero reminded me of a Gageo Island pre-dawn, in mid-April.

Good for northin’

Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura with
Canada Goose Branta canadensis

Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos

Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens

American Tree Sparrow Spizella arborea

American Tree Sparrow Spizella arborea

Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata

Hunter's Moon

Prévost, Oct 27-28, 2023

  Went up for an annual visit to my buddy Joey's, up north in quiet Prévost. We slipped in some birding in his backyard, and in the fields around his place.

Of note:

-A Golden Eagle was a nice surprise, in spite of the fact that it was wayyyy up there, just a menacing dot, drifting south

-Where scrubby stream meets field, the sparrows lurked: At least 12 American Tree Sparrow, 6+ Song Sparrow, 6+ White-throated Sparrow, loads of Dark-eyed Juncos, and an evasive individual I’m 85% certain was a Savannah Sparrow

-Restless Pine Siskins overhead

-The seasons, they are a’changin’

-Sadly, no sign of the ‘backyard Ruffed Grouse’

-24 species noted in two separate birding sessions

Crossbilled Traffic

Red Crossbill Loxia curvirostra

Getting after the slushy salt/grit pile

Pine Siskin Carduelis pinus

Northern Shrike Lanius excubitor

Rivière Noire

They were that close...

  George had a wacky scheme to wake up pre-dawn and drive two hours north to try to find some hard-to-find Red Crossbills that some fellow has been seeing in his yard. I’m in! After the drive up to the boreal splendour of Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm (near Tremblant), we met the fellow in question, the affable bird-man of the north, Pierre Martin. We first got onto a large flock of Pine Siskins, and after ten minutes or so, three Red Crossbills were spotted moving in a wide circuit around us. High-five! Little did we know, within an hour we would have an absurdly confiding flock of 16 Red Crossbills on the snow in front of us, as close as ten feet away. It was a breathtaking, surreal encounter.
  The birds were focused on getting after the salt/dirt clumps on the road, and would flush en masse every few minutes in response to alarm calls from jittery sentries. The colour range on the birds was remarkable, with all the shades of a traffic light, and every gradient in between.
  We stopped by Boisé Ste-Dorothée in Laval on the way back. The tactical owl SWAT team was out in force, beating the bushes for a Saw-whet Owl that was apparently seen there a few days ago. I overheard one lens bro’s aside to another: “There were 30 people here today looking for the owl, but no one saw it.” Can’t help but think that the two halves of that sentence may have a cause-effect relationship. Pretty quiet overall there, although a Northern Shrike was a welcome sight (with another probable from the road near Prévost). I’ll swear on a Sibley’s that I heard some crossbills there too. Gip-gip gip-gip!

George’s list from Saint-Donat (includes a sound recording for the crossbill-typing nerds out there):
https://ebird.org/checklist/S61627172

George’s list from Boisé Ste-Dorothée:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S61631515

Northbugs

Ridiculously fresh northern air - I'll never take it for granted again

Joey tries in vain to get a look at a Scarlet Tanager

Insert Darth Vader breathing here

Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Common Tern Sterna hirundo

Painted Turtle Chrysemys picta

  A few days back I went up to Prévost to touch base with Joey – weird to think it’s been a year since I was up there last.

  On the 7th we visited Les Sentiers Écologiques de Saint Hippolyte, which we last did in April of 2016. It wasn’t overly birdy there, but the bugs were sure out in force. Without full clothing coverage (don’t forget your pilot gloves!) and nets, it would not have been much fun. Joey was keen to see his first Scarlet Tanager, but the several we heard remained unseen in the thick summer foliage.
  Before parting ways on the 8th, we went for a lazy late-morning canoe trip around the Rivière des Mille Îles. Low passes from a Bald Eagle were crowd pleasing, although I was more interested in getting close looks at a confiding Common Tern.
  Since getting back from Korea, I have not been taking Canada’s gorgeous, clean air for granted. Nor should you! It still feels novel not having to wear a mask to go birding.