Moths in the Neighbourhood

As I continue to explore my neighbourhood during this pandemic, I am seeing many insect species.  So many, in fact, that I will do separate posts for moths, butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies, and miscellaneous others.  

You will notice that I may identify an insect with the modifier "possible".  This indicates a case where I have submitted the photo to iNaturalist for identification but have not had a confirmation yet.  I'll update the post as information comes in.

Here are the moths I have seen:

Possible Clover Looper Moth (Caenurgina crassiuscula)

American Dagger Moth (acronicta americana)

Eight-spotted Forester Moth (alypia octomaculata)

Virginia Tiger Moth (Spilosoma virginica)

Grass Veneer Moth (Genus: crambus)

Possible Soft-lined Wave Moth (scopula inductata)

Lesser Maple Spanworm Moth

(macaria pustularia)

Grape Plume Moth (geina periscelidactylus)

Three More Videos of the Hawk Nestlings

For another look at the nestlings, here are three new "Cooper's Hawk with nestlings" videos:

Video 1 - click here. 

 One nestling preens and at the end another little head pops up and yawns. (31 seconds)

Video 2 - click here.

Nestlings jostle about in the nest on a windy day. I see at least three distinct heads and maybe a fourth? (21 seconds)

Video 3 - click here.

Parent feeds the nestlings. (24 seconds)

A New Cooper's Hawk Family

If you are a regular reader of this blog you know that a pair of Cooper's Hawks took up residence in a cemetery here in Saint-Laurent. 

After occupying a nest high in a conifer, they abandoned it, and several days later, started building a new one in a deciduous tree in another area of the cemetery.  I have been monitoring their activities ever since I first spotted them and to my delight, they have successfully hatched out nestlings.  

Here are a few photos and a very short video.   

This nest and these hardy birds have weathered two strong wind/rain storms and a construction crew working on a building only a few meters from the tree!

Note: captions are below each photo.  You can enlarge a photo by clicking on it.

Starting the process!

A portrait of a handsome bird!

How cute is that little face?!

One nestling is on the left and there is a partial view of another on the far right.

Sitting in the nest!

Baby and parent.

To see a 25 second video, click here.

Stay tuned!

To See A Mockingbird (And Cousins)

During recent decades, the Mockingbird has gradually expanded its range northward.  I have rarely seen one though and so the other morning when I approached my neighbourhood birding site, I was astonished to see one in full view.  It perched on a tree stump and then flew to a mowed field where it ran back and forth like a roadrunner.  Then it flew into a berry bearing bush and I managed a shot.

The next day I heard singing in a tree adjacent to that field and it was clearly a mimicking song.  I was sure the Mockingbird was the source so it was to my surprise that I found out it was a Brown Thrasher that was singing!  This is a "cousin" to the Mockingbird and although I have seen a few, I have never heard one sing.

That same day, as I progressed down my usual path towards a small grove of trees, I heard another mimicking song.  Ok, so was this the Mockingbird or the Thrasher?  Neither!  It was another "cousin" - the Catbird. They all belong to the family "Mimidae".

Here are the three cousins:

Northern Mockingbird

Brown Thrasher

Below is a 40 second video of this Thrasher singing:

Gray Catbird

Below is a 40 second video of the Catbird singing (he is well hidden in the bushes but you'll see a glimpse of movement towards the end):

A Windfall of Warblers

Every spring tiny birds called warblers migrate north from their wintering grounds in the south.  Many are just passing through as they proceed even further north.  

I started thinking of them as a "windfall" because they are treasures that appear suddenly and often in large numbers due to strong winds bringing them down from the skies.  It was with that in mind that I wrote the following poem last year:

A WINDFALL OF WARBLERS

May’s warmth rolls back the blanket of white

and lays a carpet of green.

Warblers, blown north, spill jewel-like into the woods

quick to take flight for even more northern skies.

A windfall of warblers - a treasure - spent in a flash.

(from the book Discoveries In The Dark by Doris Potter)

© Doris Potter

With the difficulties of moving around freely to bird-watch this spring, I was doubtful whether I would see many (or even any) in my neighbourhood.  I was therefore ecstatic to catch sight of nine species and to photograph eight of them.  

Nashville Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Cape May Warbler

Tennessee Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

And lastly, below, is the type that I wasn't quick enough to photograph so I am inserting a photo I took last year of the same species.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Iridescent Clouds

On May 17th I observed iridescent clouds as I was out looking for wildlife to photograph.  It was towards the end of the day and it added some excitement to my outing.  I have seen this phenomenon before but only in the winter.  

You can check here for a brief explanation of how this effect is produced:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_iridescence

The photographs were darkened using exposure settings and minimally saturated to bring out the colours.

Heat Wave

As Montreal endures a record-breaking heat wave (it was 36.6 degrees on Wednesday), I thought this post showing a Song Sparrow having a welcome bath was apropos.

I was intrigued when approaching the little bird while it was in the grass on the other side of a path.  As I moved towards it, it moved towards me and then it stopped and fluttered its wings.  I then noticed the puddle on the path and immediately realized that it wanted to have a bath.  I stepped backwards and, as on cue, it stepped forwards and entered the water.  Here is the incident in photos:

Keep cool little one!