Yellow Warbler - Fledgling Feeding

I was hoping that being out east in early summer would give me an opportunity to see a lot of cool warblers. Well, I saw a lot of warblers alright, but most all of them were Yellow Warblers. Le parc national des Îles-de-Boucherville was loaded with them.

Even with the high numbers, it was still difficult to get good pictures as these warblers are typical small birds, constantly moving and never letting you get very close. Just when you think you have a great shot, the bird will fly away just as you push the shutter. It can get frustrating.Then, as I was walking along a trail with tall grasses on either side, I came across a male and female that were feeding along the tops of the grasses near the trail. I was able to get many pictures, some of which turned out pretty good, even with the gloom of the overcast skies.Then, yet another surprise. I saw another Yellow Warbler that looked a little different and was flapping its wings vigorously as it was perched on a stalk. Soon another Yellow Warbler approached and I realized that the first warbler was a fledgling as the adult brought an insect and feed its young.I love watching adults feed their young.

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.

European Starling

These two wet European Starlings greeted me as I pulled into the parking lot at Le parc national des Îles-de-Boucherville on Saturday.
I have now seen European Starlings on 2 different continents, 3 countries and 6 states. I'm not sure that is a good thing. :-)

Eastern Kingbird

As I drove the entrance road to Le parc national des Îles-de-Boucherville yesterday, this Eastern Kingbird was flycatching from some recently planted trees between the lanes. I was the only one around at the time, so I slowed down and inched up to it in my car in similar fashion to the auto tour at RNWR. I several good looks at it before it would fly on to the next tree.
It was a cloudy, rainy day which actually worked in my favor on this siting. The Eastern Kingbird has a red stripe on its crest that is typically hidden, however the rain matted its feathers down enough to make it easily visible.
New life bird number 3!

American Redstart

I had the morning off today, so I visited Le parc national des Îles-de-Boucherville. Its an island in the St. Lawrence River similar to Sauvie Island in Portland except that just about the whole island is a national park and accessible to the public. It's really quite beautiful and is loaded with birds. There are a mix of trails ranging from graveled service roads to well-groomed grass trails like the one in the image above which I found to have the best birding.Early in the morning, one of the first birds I saw was an American Redstart. The male in the image above didn't stick around too long, but I was able to get this one reasonable shot. It's red flashes of red-orange where hard to miss and I knew almost instantly what I had seen.

New life bird number two!

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!

Wood Ducks - Female

Wood Ducks were plentiful in the ponds of Bois-de-l'Île-Bizard Nature Park.
On two different occasions I saw both Wood Ducks and Mallards obscured amongst trees in a marsh. There was a strange call coming from that general area. I'm pretty sure it must have been the Wood Ducks as it was reminiscent of what Cornell has on their site.

White-throated Sparrow

Another new lifer for me seen at Bois-de-l'Île-Bizard Nature Park in Montreal. I ran into a small flock of White-throated Sparrows along a trail where modest bushes provided a clearing in the mostly forested park.

I noticed while reviewing the meta-data for these images that my camera was factory set for ISO 200. It would have been helpful on this trip with such an overcast sky if that had been set higher. I now have it set to auto mode allowing for an upper ISO setting and a minimum shutter speed. This should result in sharper images in low light situations.

Lesser Yellowlegs

Greg Gillson has a great post on distinguishing between Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. His primary method is to simply compare the length of the bird's bill to the length of its head. If the bill is longer than the head, it is a Greater Yellowlegs. If it is equal or less than the head, it is a Lesser Yellowlegs.
Go ahead, give it a try. Measure this birds bill and you will see that it is shorter than its head. Then do the same with my posting of the Greater Yellowlegs and you will see that its bill is longer than its head.
Its a good method as even though the Lesser is noticeably smaller than a Greater, if they aren't side-by-side that method fails.

Semipalmated Plover

Whenever I bird a new area, especially another part of the country or even another country, I am hopeful that I will see new species that I wouldn't be able to see here in Oregon. Such was the case when I visited Montreal and Bois-de-l'Île-Bizard Nature Park. However, whenever I see a bird I've already seen close to home, I have make sure that my enthusiasm for new sightings doesn't hamper an opportunity for good pictures.
Such was the case with this Semipalmated Plover. It was the first bird I saw as I approached the river shore. When I identified it, my first reaction was, "Ah, just a Semipalmated Plover". Just a Semipalmated Plover?! It hasn't been but about a month since my first sighting of this species and then I only got fair pictures of it. Here was one of these birds very close to me and fairly at ease with my presence.
If you look closely at the left foot of the bird in the top image, you will see where it get its name. Semipalmated refers to the fact that its toes are partially webbed.

Gray Catbird

Another bird seen at Bois-de-l'Île-Bizard Nature Park that I would rarely, if ever see here in the Portland area. I was trying to get descent shots of some "Slate-colored" Dark-eyed Juncos when this Gray Catbird caught my eye. Its gray color sharply contrasted with the colorful autumn leaves of the tree it was perched in.

Again, the dark clouds of the day made for difficult shooting, but this image didn't turn out too bad, though a little soft in focus.
Its rufous under-tail coverts were not very evident, but if I increased the brightness way up, I did see evidence of the color.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

I had two chances to get pictures of Ruby-crowned Kinglets at Bois-de-l'Île-Bizard Nature Park. The first time I was unsuccessful. I got close looks, they actually seemed somewhat curious of me as they took turns flying into a path-side tree just next to me. But with them in near constant motion and with sluggish focusing because of the heavy overcast all the pictures were blurry or I shot too late.
The second time I had more success, but still had to fight bad lighting. Not only heavy overcast, but bright gray clouds in the background.
If you look closely at the lower image, you will notice a touch of red on its crown. Also, notice that the light is shining through its toes. An indication of just how small these birds are.

Common Moorhen - Juvenile

Among the two adult Common Moorhens I saw, there were also a couple of juveniles. The one in the image above is a bit obstructed by the reeds, but get a look at that foot! Huge toes.
Both juveniles and adults exhibited typical behavior from what I read. They swim like ducks and feed off plants growing just below the surface, sometimes walking on those same plants.

Common Moorhen

I'm in Montreal on business and had a bit of time at the end of the day to visit Bois-de-l'Île-Bizard Nature Park. It is a short distance from where I am staying and was highly recommended by locals on the internet.
I didn't have much time and the sky was dark, but I did see some birds. The image above is of a Common Moorhen. Though common, its range does not extend to my stomping grounds, so it was a good sighting.
Another exciting sighting for me was a Nashville Warbler. I saw a small flock of them in some bushes on my way back to my car. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get very good pictures. Just barely good enough to make a positive identification.