Falaise St Jacques Birder's Blog

 Malcolm aka A.T. Lane and Roger aka H.S. Tibbs met at the Shaika cafe for a regular Fixture ride to the inspect the construction of the Bande Verte and to stop by the Falaise's Valley of the Birds aka the Bird's Ravine.  Once there they were met by a family of hikers. After filling the feeders, we walked down to the marsh, aka Lac St Pierre separating the Falasie and the Bande Verte to look at the newly installed bird houses. Roger felt the need to impress some kids with his He Man work, so he moved about some 4x4 timbers and carted an old cart uphill to much applause. Malcolm, felt guilty not taking any bird photos that day, so he included a couple from his previous day ebird records in this Blog. I won't talk about my bird spreadsheet or my Eddington Number progress . Having done all the Falaise work for the day, they headed out to the Western entrance of the Bande Verte.   H.S. Tibbs at Western Entrance     Western Access Road   Rest stops under construction   Variety

 I went to the Falaise to fill up the bird feeders and took a walk along the Bande Verte. I noticed that the MTQ has added bird houses to the marsh area close to the Skateboard Park.  Good work!!!  I took a few photos of far off birds in trees. They were strongly backlit which makes it difficult to identify.  I find that adjusting the exposure afterwards makes identification easier.  They were Robins. I also took a few of robins having  mud bath. Looking south, towards the Lachine canal path I was surprised by how well I could photograph cyclists from that distant location. I filled out the ebird survey and updated the spreadsheet as well.

 Lisa organized a Falaise walk today which was well attended despite the very high temperatures.  I went down to the Valley of Birds to fill up the feeders and take a few photos.  Roger was there as well, doing some trail maintenance. Links Ebird Spreadsheet

 With the help of a borrowed ladder, the living room feeder was adjusted and a second Squirrel Buster Classic added to our collection. Taking a walk over to the Bande Verte, I was happy to see how the ridge had greened up over the summer and the large number of trees planted. There were quite a few Robins to be seen today, along with the usual suspects...   I was also happy to see Gulls soaring over the Bande Verte and Song Sparrows in what remains of the wetland.

 I set up a tripod and tried taking videos of birds by the feeders. First off were some Chickadee visitors to the feeder: Chickadees have various songs that give warnings to other birds.  I read that Nuthatches like to stay close by to the Chickadees for that reason. Niger seed does not seem to be very popular among the birds at the Falaise.  The niger seed feeder has barely been touched since it was filled a month ago.  Chickadees seem to be the only birds that have any interest in it at all.   The Nuthatches however, search out the sunflower seeds within the wild seed mix. Nuthatches are fun to watch as they move along trees. House Sparrows, are an invasive species that can dominate the feeders with messy eaters and gather in large flocks there.       The Downy Woodpecker a native species often seen at the Falaise. This one seems determined to find bugs in the woods.   Another native species, the Song Sparrow, enjoys the same wild seed mix as the invasive House Sparrow. Observed but

 The new Squirrel Buster feeder I installed had fallen to the ground by the squirrels.  I put it back up and filled all the feeders.   A Black-and-white Warbler was spotted, which was a first for me, (however I see from the ebird site that it was first seen in the Falaise on the 12 May 2020).  Welcome back.... A total of 11 species of birds were observed that day , nine with photos .

 I stopped by to replace the metal tube feeder with a Squirrel Buster feeder.   In addition to the more usual Chickadees, Nuthatches, Cardinals, Downy Woodpeckers, Redstarts and Robins, I saw a Hairy Woodpecker and pulled out my pocket camera to get a photo.