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| Bay-breasted Warbler Setophaga castanea |
Spring in
Montreal has been good to me, bird-wise. During the past several weeks
I’ve seen 19 different warbler species, eight of which were lifers for
me. As of this morning, I only had two ‘easy’ warblers left to see – Bay-breasted and Blackpoll. I’ve been birding pretty hard lately, but I pulled my foot off the gas for a
moment, and took the weekend off from birding. Maybe I subconsciously
wanted to save some new warblers for next spring? Who knows.
Back at it today, although Westmount Summit itself
was extremely quiet, with only one warbler seen (a female American Redstart), along with
several Great Crested
Flycatchers and Red-eyed Vireos heard singing. On my walk home,
‘secret spot’ was yet again much birdier than the Summit. A Common Yellowthroat, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Yellow-rumped, and two Black-throated Blue Warblers were all quickly spotted in the small
wooded patch, and then two more warblers moved in from the back. It was
initially hard to get a good look, as the leaves have fully come in this week,
but I caught a glimpse of thick rusty flanks and...a rusty chin! I wasn’t
looking at another Chestnut-sided Warbler, but a pair of cracking Bay-breasted Warblers! I
watched them for about ten minutes as they gorged on what looked like green
caterpillars (yum!) high in the treetops, never getting as close as the other
warblers. Awesome bird, holy smokes. Ok, time to figure out where the Blackpolls are...
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