Animal species: a quiz
The Journal has a quiz about animal species in Montreal as a sidebar to a piece on how climate change is altering the mix of bird and animal species that cohabit with us on the island.
I started the Flickr group Montreal faune/wildlife in 2015 and keep an eye on it: oddly, it’s seen a fair number of pix of snowy owls (which the quiz says aren’t present here) but none of porcupines (which they say are). The group’s got some dedicated bird photographers in particular, and as a city dweller familiar with 3 bird species – pigeons, gulls and sparrows – it’s been enlightening to learn about the many other species that coexist with us.
Frankie 12:00 on 2019-04-22 Permalink
I was surprised to start seeing cardinals in Villeray over the past few years as that is not a bird that I would have seen 30 years ago in this area. Either there are more of them and are expanding their territory or they are getting used to city life. In January, I had a small falcon (kestrel?) perch on the ash tree in the front of the house to have his dinner, a sparrow (feathers flying everywhere). A pair had built a nest in a tree in Parc Christophe Colomb last summer but I didn’t expect them to hang around during the winter. They don`t seem to mind noisy roads as the park is on Jean Talon and I live on De Lorimier. I, on the other hand, hate traffic and may end up extinct because of it.
mare 12:00 on 2019-04-22 Permalink
I saw a porcupine a bit north of the island while walking my dogs. One dog saw it too and chased it and I was very, very glad there was a tree in the middle of the field and the porcupine decided to climb in it instead of porcupining my dog. I saw pictures of dogs full of porcupine spines in the face and lips and it is extremely painful and expensive to remove them.
I didn’t know they lived on the island as well, must be in the east or west island, maybe near the nature parks or golf courses there. Hope to never encounter them again, because it’s certain I have my dogs with me.
Ian 13:14 on 2019-04-22 Permalink
@Frankie I used to work on Chemin Bates about 15 years ago and we saw nesting cardinals a fair bit there. If they can make it in industrial CDN I am sure they think Villeray is a treat 🙂 There are also peregrine falcons nesting in the old Rosemont incinerator chimney railings.
I have a friend on Clark just south of Saint Joey with rooftop access, and on summer evenings we see all kinds of birds flying from Lafontaine Park to the mountain that you don’t notice at street level – lots of ducks, herons, and hawks. There is even a fairly substantial colony of nighthawks in Mile End but I’m not sure where they nest. I love the crazy zooming noise of their wings when they do their display flights.
Blork 15:45 on 2019-04-22 Permalink
Don’t forget the enormous turkey vultures that like to summer here, hanging out mostly around the skyscrapers of downtown it seems. (I haven’t seen any yet this year.)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/blork/21058240933/
John B 18:28 on 2019-04-22 Permalink
The first cardinal I ever saw, (I’m from out west), was 12-ish years ago at the Botanical Gardens. I saw some this year in LaSalle. There’s a big hawk/eagle (some sort of raptor) that comes to Verdun every winter.
Jean-Marc Lacoste on YouTube has a lot of videos of wildlife in the Verdun/Lachine area.
JP 21:25 on 2019-04-22 Permalink
I’ve been seeing a lot more cardinals in Ahuntsic-Cartierville the past few years. I’ve also seen more robins this year and a few woodpeckers. All spring, there have also been ducks, geese and seagulls in the park area next to Arena Marecelin-Wilson. I’m always curious about where all of these birds have their nests and what happens when it’s very windy or extremely rainy. Has anyone ever seen bluejays in Montreal?
Tim S. 21:35 on 2019-04-22 Permalink
JP: I’ve seen bluejays from time to time in Brossard, but not yet in the city
dhomas 04:53 on 2019-04-23 Permalink
I regularly see a pair of cardinals that like to hang out in the tree in my backyard. There’s also some kind of woodpecker (I think it’s a “Downy Woodpecker” or “Pic mineur” because it looks quite small) that I see pretty often, pecking at the local trees. Lots of other birds like what I think we call red-breasted robins (“rouge-gorge”), red-winged blackbirds (called “Carouge à épaulettes” in French, which is a much more creative name), and others. But the animal that I see most often is a Fox that I believe lives in the cemetery next to my house. I almost exclusively see it in the cemetery, though I did notice it once or twice out on the street in the winter, early in the morning after a snowfall. I’ve seen it with a squirrel in its mouth, but I’ve been told that I should not be worried about my cat and the fox cohabitating (I’m still a bit worried, though).
EmilyG 08:39 on 2019-04-23 Permalink
I saw a brown creeper in Villeray. And although I’ve never seen a nighthawk, they can be heard sometimes on summer evenings in the city.
Ian 11:28 on 2019-04-23 Permalink
@dhomas there are lots of birds and animals in the cemeteries, I’ve seen a variety of hawks and owls on the mountain I never see anywhere else in town. There are also a TON of groundhogs along with the squirrels and chipmunks so there are many small predators prowling around looking for them. For some reason Notre Dame des Neiges seems to have more groundhogs than Mont-Royal but that could just be a matter of perception as up among the crypts in NDDN you can see way across the fields and the groundhog holes are plentiful. The only places I’ve seen rabbits in town was Saint Henri down by the abandoned railway lines, but I am told they are also plentiful throughout the island.
Kevin 07:51 on 2019-04-24 Permalink
I last saw cardinals in NDG earlier this month.
Last time I saw a blue jay was a year ago. They don’t hang around for long.
nau 10:56 on 2019-04-24 Permalink
Cardinals are around in Verdun most of the year, and there are blue jays in summer. The little hawks are back. Lots of other birds are passing through right now and are easy to spot as the trees haven’t leafed out, such as flickers, hermit thrush, white thoated sparrows, wrens. The warblers should start showing up soon. As for animals, just in our yard I’ve seen racoons, skunks and marmots. There are foxes and beavers around, as well as muskrats in the Aqueduc canal. At the Parc des rapides in Lasalle, there are egrets, kingfishers and orioles (not now but later in the year), and last year on one occasion an osprey. Sometimes one can spot gar in the shallows there and also in the Lachine Canal in Griffintown. Never seen any porcupines in Verdun though, or coyotes or rabbits for that matter.
EmilyG 11:39 on 2019-04-24 Permalink
I was looking out my back window today here in Rosemont and I saw juncos, though they’re pretty common at this time of year. I think my area (south Rosemont) has good potential for interesting wildlife sightings.
Kevin 16:45 on 2019-04-24 Permalink
A mated pair of cardinals and a blue jay in my backyard right now! (along with a bunch of other birds)
Blork 16:48 on 2019-04-24 Permalink
Right on cue, I just spotted a turkey vulture buzzing the new condo towers along René-Lévesque.
Sprocket 18:11 on 2019-04-24 Permalink
There are red birds here in CDN, but I don’t think they are cardinals. Some small red finch maybe.
In other wildlife news, I heard the buzz and zap and sound of the ground impact of a squirrel that I assume was snacking on a power line two days ago. It seemed distressed but quite alive and was nowhere to be found a half hour later.