I have mentioned before that I am writing a Natural History of the town I live in, and a few nearby places within a short distance. A friend who we met ten years ago on a wildlifing trip of north-western Newfoundland and Labrador pointed out from some early draft pages that I don’t [...]
Hudson Christmas Bird Count (Route 2) 2021 This is probably the 20th year that J and I have done the annual Christmas Bird Count centred on Hudson, and all but the first year we have censused the same route. It's unusual in that there is far more driving than walking - not a [...]
One year ago we had planned to spend a weekend away to celebrate our 50th anniversary but covid meant it all had to be cancelled at the last minute - quite a disappointment. A couple of golden oldies Good things come to he/she who waits however and we have just celebrated [...]
IS THIS THE ‘MOST BIODIVERSE” COMMUNITY IN CANADA For a five day period that took in last weekend we took part in a Canada-wide “Bioblitz” organized by the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation. We (and our little town of Baie-D’Urfé) came within a whisker of being the top [...]
Almost the end of February and a light snowfall overnight coated everything with a covering of snow and ice. The sun came out, the temperature was not many degrees below zero. In three or four weeks most of the snow will be gone (though more could arrive) and there will be a [...]
18 January, and after a weekend of heavy snowfall we went out to enjoy the countryside on the West Island. Considering this in Montreal, it's very pleasing to have such places within a very short distance from home. Lovely deep snow with a thin and crisp topping to wade through - thank [...]
Species #9 to #15 Dates: 8 -14 March 2020 These were the "Lifeforms of the Day" for the second week ... they originally appeared on this Facebook page. If you would like to follow that page you will get a new species to enjoy and learn about each day until some embuggerment or [...]
Ten Years Ago If you are a birder or a photographer, please don't get excited - this bird was found ten years ago and the photographs were serendipitously resurfaced whilst I was cleaning out unrequired pictures from my too large digital archives. The Northern Hawk Owl (Surnia ulula) is a very rare [...]
Snowy Owl on the Winter Solstice We spent all of a very cold (-14C) and breezy Winter Solstice doing "our" route as part of the annual Christmas Bird Count. There were not as many birds as we usually expect - the absence of Snow Buntings was particularly badly felt as they are favourites [...]
On Saturday morning, Bird Protection Quebec organised a birding field trip in the Arboretum to which Arbo members were invited and which several joined. For my sins, I was delegated to organise and lead the outing. I don't go on many field trips (I have problems with more than six people together at once) [...]