Summer Series - Trip #4 report July 14th

Superb weather conditions greeted a large turnout of 19 birders atthe Mount Royal Cemetery this morning. It did seem however that someof the birds may have taken off for summer vacation as we completedthe morning's outing with 30 species.

Although the species count was not large, the quality of birds wasvery good with excellent views of some of the highlight birds of the day including several Eastern Bluebirds, House Wrens, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, American Kestrel, and a flurry of activity from a group of Red-breasted Nuthatches.

We focused our attention predominantly on the Mount Murray andMountain view sections of the cemetery but we also crossed over into a section of the Cote-des-Neiges Cemetery which is incredibly overgrown due to the lock-out of staff there ongoing since May.

We had hoped to find a few of the numerous Indigo Buntings that have been seen recently on the grounds but had to settle for just one female seen early in the morning.Completely missing in action were warblers, of any kind. Not a single warbler seen throughout the almost 4-hour walk today. So, here is our species list for the day.

Great Blue Heron, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Killdeer, MourningDove, Chimney Swift, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker,Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, Am. Crow, Tree Swallow, Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, House Wren, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Chipping Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, Common Grackle, Am. Goldfinch.

Very nice to see some new faces, together with a few we haven't seen in quite some time, coming out for the trip this morning. Thanks to everyone who attended.

Sheldon