A Brit abroad

Marvellous Montreal

I just spent a very pleasant week in Montreal, attending the monster-sized annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America (5000+ participants!). Fortunately I did manage to escape the throng for a spot of birding. Just before the conference I spent a delightful day hiking and canoeing in the Mauricie National Park.

Overall bird diversity was low (perhaps due to the time of year), but birds seen included my lifer Mourning Warbler, a smart breeding-plumaged Common Loon, a noisy pair of Merlins and Northern Parula. On hearing a bizarre drumming sound from the undergrowth, I crawled through a gap and came eyeball-to-eyeball with this male Ruffed Grouse!

In Montreal itself, I had some great early morning birding on the scenic Mont Royal.

It has a good selection of eastern breeding birds (Cardinal, Indigo Bunting and Chimney Swift, for example), but a chance encounter with a mixed flock of migrants provided most of the excitement - Scarlet Tanagers, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Baltimore Orioles alongside Red-eyed Vireos and a large (for a west-coast birder) diversity of warblers, the best of which was my lifer Blackburnian Warbler. I also had a strange but memorable encounter with a Ruby-throated Hummingbird which had managed to get itself stuck to a teasle-like flower. After a little careful handwork on my part (these birds are TINY!) it was soon on its way.

Posted by rjhall at August 20, 2005 3:41 PM