Not as cold this morning as anticipated, maybe -5C with a bit if wind but by tomorrow morning we are looking at -25C and with windchill an effect -35C to -40C which will give even hardy souls like us pause for thought before going out. Even with good snowshoes this was a hefty [...]
Thursday morning at this time of the year means we put on the snowshoes and go tramping ... looking for birds along the way, of course. Here are some of the regulars. Especially amused by the Cardinal looking longingly at the squirrel's snack. Rather less amused by the hanging squirrel that somehow [...]
2022 - Another Year of Birding As a new year starts I like to make a note of the birding “ticks” from the year just coming to an end. Here goes for 2022 … a couple of days early but I don't expect anything new between now and the weekend. First, it's important [...]
One of the must do tasks for New Year's Day around here is to total up the number of species of birds that we have heard or seen in or from our garden during the preceding year. The garden list for 2021 topped off at a gratifying 76 different species of birds. [...]
Looking about you and learning about what you see About a week ago we wrote about our participation in the Nature Conservancy Canada “Bioblitz” during which we recorded all the species we saw in a five day period in our garden and the nearby roads and parks. The total came to 217. We [...]
This is a reworking of a post of mine from a couple of years ago. You will see, when you reach the closing section, that it’s very much a plea for enthusing novices of all ages, though especially the younger age groups, in the importance and joys of wildlifing. In particular via the [...]
Even the woodpecker owes its success to the fact that he used his head. —Author Unknown Continuing with the theme of occasional “Naturally Speaking” accounts of species you can encounter on the West Island of Montreal I am going to introduce a another bird. Botanists and entomologist friends of mine need [...]
Do you know just how varied is the wildlife on the West Island in Winter? West Island Wildlife is an occasional webzine. It is FREE and fully illustrated, and has the intention of introducing readers to the surprisingly varied wildlife and native plants to be found on the West Island of Montreal. Following the [...]
Garden Birds - November 2020. During this "lockdown and go nowhere" year Bird Protection Quebec have replaced their weekly guided birding field trips with a series of interesting virtual alternatives. Basically, they have been saying, here’s a challenge, go and do it and then tell us all about what you found. For the [...]
Montée Biggar Bird Sanctuary Getting away from the garden this morning I visited a new bird sanctuary in southern Quebec that has been purchased by my very good friends at Bird Protection Quebec (declaration of interest - I was on the board for ten years, President for three and still run the grants and [...]