Montreal Mammals

While I didn't see a lot of birds at Mount Royal Park in Montreal, I did see more mammals than normal. It started with Eastern Gray Squirrels. They were everywhere throughout the park and were rather tame.
Shortly after my first squirrel sightings, I noticed something moving high in the tree up ahead. It turned out to be a Raccoon sitting in a hole which may have been its den.

The rabbit below was huddled under some low hanging branches. Though it seemed a bit nervous, it didn't run off as I approached. I haven't been able to figure out what species it is, however I have a suspicion that it may be an escaped domestic rabbit.

There were a lot more birds than mammals at Le parc national des Îles-de-Boucherville which suited me just fine, but I a few great looks at mammals there too, starting with this White-tailed deer. It was munching on some grass along the trail and just stared at me for a couple of minutes while I photographed it before sauntering off.

After seeing so many Nutrias in the Portland area, it was nice to see a native large rodent. I believe this is a woodchuck.

Finally, as my day was coming to an end, I came upon a skunk and its babies. I followed them as they were making there way to the tall grass. Before entering, however, the parent turned and stared at me, beginning to move my direction. I quickly decided it was time for me to back off. :-)

Quite a few mammals on this trip made for some fun variety.

Indigo Bunting

I'm in Montreal this week and I got a little time this afternoon to do some birding. I decided to visit Mount Royal Park since it was near my hotel and sounded promising on many sites on the web.
Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate very well as it was gloomy and rainy; kind of reminded me of Oregon. The bird numbers were very low. I'm not sure why. May have been the time of day, time of year and the fact that it was heavily wooded, but I didn't even hear that many birds.
Being a large hill or mountain in the middle of a city makes it a prime location for radio communication antennas. The area around the antennas was generally cleared. In one such area, I got lucky and came upon a couple of male Indigo Buntings. I first saw them as they flew in front of me; two small, bright blue birds. One landed on a railing above me. The lighting was challenging, but I did get a couple of reasonable shots.
New life bird number one for this trip!