Wet Warblers

American Redstart Setophaga ruticilla

Nashville Warbler Leiothlypis ruficapilla

Yellow-rumped Warbler Setophaga coronata

Eastern Bluebird Sialia sialis

Blue-headed Vireo Vireo solitarius

Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus
('Yellow-shafted')

Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Sphyrapicus varius

Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis with
European Starling Sturnus vulgaris

No one here but us waterlogged trees

‘Quiet Place’ in NDG, May 5, 2024

  The migratory cork finally popped this past week, with everyone posting fat, warbler-laden lists of late. There has been no shortage of early May rarities for Québec too, fun times.

  So, in spite of heavy rain and winds throughout the day, it felt like an opportune moment to check in on my NDG patch. Despite very challenging conditions (my feet are pruned, and everything is wet wet wet), there was some satisfying migratory shrapnel in evidence in the wet and gloomy woods today. I logged 23 species in two hours.

  Always nice to see warblers, even soggy ones! I spotted several first-of-year birds, and two personal firsts for the site (Blue-headed Vireo and American Redstart). Also encountered was a solid 50 count of Ruby-crowned Kinglets (‘Fool’s Warblers’), and one Golden-crowned. Only one Eastern Phoebe was noted. White-throated Sparrows were well-dispersed but shy. One wonders what today’s list would have looked like without all that rain.

  I also had my first visual sighting of an Eastern Bluebird for the site (one was heard on October 23, 2022). It perched on the side of a tree for a bit, before being chased off by an agitated White-breasted Nuthatch. Was it staking out nest holes and came into conflict with another species of cavity nester? I’ll keep an eye on it.

  Incidentally, my back-of-napkin list for the patch is at 55 species, with 12 warblers among them.

  Water is good for cameras, right?

  Oh, I randomly spotted several Warbling Vireos flitting through trees in a decidedly urban setting yesterday.

  Exactly one year ago today I was birding in similar sodden conditions in Jeju City, at the foot-foaming kick-off to my wacky ‘spring 2023 Korean birding fugue.’ I refuse to believe that an entire calendar year has passed since then. It…just happened. Sadly, I feel twice as old and half as nimble as I did last May 5th (my stupid neck has seen better days), boo-hoo.

Buy my book! (Dark Flock)

  Howdy fellow bird-nerds! Dark Flock, a collection of my freaky feathered fiction is coming out in May, thanks to the fine folks at Stygian Society, based here in Montréal. The collection features 15 stories — ten of which have been previously published, and five fresh and fantastic tales. All of the short stories are in a self-created sub-genre I like to call “Twilight Zone Birding” — fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, dystopian, and horror (with a surprise romance thrown in for yucks), all involving birding, and/or birds.

-->May 23, 2024 update:

  Available now on Amazon, in paperback and ebook format. Please leave a review!

  Your pre-orders made the whole thing possible, so many thanks again for the support.

  You can pre-order paperback and ebook copies here, along with options for bundles that include limited pinup art by the talented Nyco Rudolph. Thanks in advance for supporting this project!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/dark-flock?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3NKNLHokK33TaHuKlQAa1j92nVIzW3hRotCtyV6YUhNxKiBOOnzUS0-YE_aem_AdNRx-OK6b1TFTLVNMuXEx8Wy1dUlfxF9hnZRqn_YwS3aOBDx8uZbE2-Il95b6DWkmgdqJ69hTHSvJONUy0sRShj#/

Mount Royal Cemetery, April 29, 2024

Eastern Bluebird Sialia sialis
(male)

Eastern Bluebird Sialia sialis
(female)

Cedar Waxwing Bombycilla cedrorum

Cedar Waxwing Bombycilla cedrorum

Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus

White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis

American Robin Turdus migratorius

Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina

Cooper’s Hawk Accipiter cooperii

Mallard Anas platyrhynchos

Bloodroot Sanguinaria canadensis

What used to be a wall of bushes and scrub

A slope clumsily cleared of scrub (why?)

  Joey of the north was in town yesterday, and we popped over to the cem for an impromptu birding session. No shortage of White-throated Sparrows, especially around the feeders and on Mountain View. No warblers spotted, although I did hear a possible Yellow-rumped Warbler call, but it was hard to isolate within a riot of two dozen Ruby-crowned Kinglets twitching and singing through the cedars.

  Joey was tripping out on two species that he hadn’t seen in ages, and that were showing well: Eastern Bluebird and Cedar Waxwing. Two very charismatic species, for sure.

  It’s been a while since I’ve been in the cem, so it was my first look at some disquieting landscaping developments up on Mountain View. Behind ‘the circles,’ a large stretch of what used to be bushes and scrub, formerly great habitat for skulking birds, is now a new patch of grass, presumably destined for new plots. More concerning was the clumsy clearing of a nearby steep slope. All the scrub has been ripped away, with decent-sized chunks of trees also hacked out. Is this busy work? It seems that the only thing this will accomplish is the destabilization and erosion of the slope in a heavy rain event. Rows of sumac have also been cleared in some areas.

  We logged 25 species in a couple of hours.

Chip Hop

Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina

Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula

American Robin Turdus migratorius

Eastern Phoebe Sayornis phoebe

Eastern Cottontail Sylvilagus floridanus

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta

Mourning Cloak Nymphalis antiopa

-Windy, warm, and overcast in NDG today, but not overly birdy

-Saw my first Chipping Sparrow of spring a few days ago on a lawn…only one spotted today though

-Only one Eastern Phoebe seen

-I was expecting some White-throated Sparrows, but nothing at my patch…then a probable whisper of a WTSP call on the way home, from a fence-line near some yards…

-No warblers save for the ones in my head

-On the butterfly front, Mourning Cloaks, Red Admirals (early?), and Cabbage Whites were out

-15 species in 90 minutes

A Pine Day

Pine Warbler Setophaga pinus

Pine Warbler Setophaga pinus

Eastern Phoebe Sayornis phoebe

Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia

Golden-crowned Kinglet Regulus satrapa

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Sphyrapicus varius

Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus

European Starling Sturnus vulgaris

Mallard Anas platyrhynchos

Woodchuck/Groundhog/Siffleur Marmota monax

‘Quiet Place’ in NDG, April 20, 2024

-Getting springier and springier

-One Golden-crowned and two Ruby-crowned Kinglets

-Still no White-throated or Chipping Sparrows

-20 species in 90 minutes

-Best of the day was a bright and flitty Pine Warbler (Personal first warbler (wobbler) of the spring, personal first for the site)

-A pair of Mallards near some big puddles

-A pair of Downy Woodpeckers chasing each other around and vocalizing

-Still two pairs of Eastern Phoebe in two different areas…one pair was singing loud and aggressively, seemingly where the two territories would overlap

A Sunday in Spring

Eastern Phoebe Sayornis phoebe

Eastern Phoebe Sayornis phoebe

Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia

Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia

Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapillus

Brown Creeper Certhia americana

Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis

Woodchuck/Groundhog/Siffleur Marmota monax

Woodchuck/Groundhog/Siffleur Marmota monax

‘Quiet Place’ in NDG, April 14, 2024

-Great to see two pairs of Eastern Phoebe, which looked to be setting up territories. I saw the same behaviour this time last year with one pair, but they didn’t seem to end up nesting at the site.

-A chilly 9°C and windy, but there were some flying insects out.

-Several Northern Flickers and Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers around (but no Hairy/Downy Woodpeckers in evidence).

-No kinglets or White-throated Sparrows yet, which seemed odd, but they’ve been seen elsewhere on the island, so they’re on the way.

-Song Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos were active and singing in most areas.

-I did my neck a mischief recently, which made looking up at tree birds a challenge.

-15 species in 90 minutes, in spite of missing a few basics.

-The last of the snow is gone.