Feature:
Top 7 Bird Watching Spots in
Montreal
“I met
up with Ilana Block at the Technoparc…Within minutes we were observing a
parade of birds.
‘Those big white guys are great egrets,’ said the Montreal photographer…
‘That little
black-&-white guy is an
eastern kingbird. They nest here.
There’s a black crowned night heron back there. He’s gorgeous with his
breeding
plumage; he has a beautiful long
feather at the back of his head-stunning. There’s a green
heron in there that might move as
well. Sometimes you’ve just got to wait.’…
We were rewarded with
mallards, Canada geese flying out of the marsh & over our heads, a
red-winged blackbird, northern flickers, green herons, a pied-billed grebe,
tree swallows, song sparrows, a spotted sandpiper, ring-billed gulls, rock
pigeons, yellow warblers, American robins, & a gold finch. And this was
apparently a quiet day- 185 species of birds have been spotted at the
Technoparc in the last year.
…Block quick-drew her
camera with its hefty 100-400mm lens, & snapped away. She has learned a lot
in the past 7 ½ years, during which she has gone from novice to award- winning
nature photographer.
…the daughter of a
long-time nature photographer hobbyist (her father)…It was while visiting her
parents in Florida in 2010 that Block finally got the bug…
Though Block loves taking
pictures of wildlife of all kinds, the green spaces around Montreal are rife
with birds, which have become her speciality. At least once a week, she’ll get
up before dawn or set out before sunset-‘golden hour’, her favorite time to
shoot- & head to one of her favorite spots.
Ilana Block’s Top 7
Montreal Bird Watching Spots
Technoparc, St. Laurent: ‘Birds live in the fields, & my favorite bird, the northern
harrier, flies over the fields. It’s the most beautiful flyer. (The park) has
got marsh for all the water birds, & forest. I shot about 8 different
species of owls there last winter.’
Parc des Prairies, Laval: ‘At 8 in the morning, the wood ducks arrive; they come in the
spring & fall. I prefer fall because of the foliage.’
Botanical Garden: ‘Incredible for warblers. It’s a big park, & all kinds of
birds come in…’
Parc des Rapides, Lachine
Canal: ‘At the rapids, there are ducks, osprey,
eagles, sometimes; & in August, terns come & fish right off the
peninsula.’
Angrignon Park: ‘There are owls here, a beautiful family…There were 2 fluffy owl
babies with big eyes, sticking their heads out of a hole. It was incredible.’
Ile Saint- Bernard, Chateauguay: ‘Refuge faunique Marguerite d’ Youville is unbelievable. There are
a lot of deer there, mink, beavers, muskrats, all kinds of birds. In
March-April-May, there’s scarlet tanager, which is a gorgeous bird- red with a
black stripe- & indigo bunting.’
Mount Royal Cemetery: ‘Another gorgeous place, with all the flowers & trees. A lot
of birds feed on the blossoms. Indigo bunting have been seen here- it’s a
stunning blue bird; blue, blue, blue.’…”
T’cha Dunlevy
The Montreal Gazette
June 11/2018
Cute Critter Pic:
Weekly Chuckle
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