Ravens at CTC and Bluebirds (not) on Malakoff Road

 April 11, 2021

Ever since Langis Sirois showed us nesting ravens at the Canadian Tire Centre, we have been keen to check up on them in April.  This time we saw that young had been born and were being fed by the adults.  It's hard to say how many young there are; we'll be back when they are lager.

Well that was a success! Where to next?  Barbara wanted to try for bluebirds on Malakoff Road. So we took Terry Fox to Eagleson.  Then Bill mentioned that we were at the corner of Faulkner Trail, so suggested a short detour to look for a reported Brown Thrasher.  Another success!

Back on Eagleson, we went to the end, then onto Malakoff.  Lots of boxes, but no bluebirds.

We went as far as Klondike, then drove to the dead-end.  We go out and hikes as far as we could until the huge puddles.  We saw a couple of painted turtles and Song Sparrows.

As we turned to go back, a truck with a large trailer pulled up beside our SUV.  We continued birding and were surprised to see 4 Evening Grosbeaks feeding on the flowers of poplar trees.

Then we noticed that the people who got out of the truck were cops, one large guy and one petite gal. They had unloaded ATVs from the trailer.  They asked about our birding, so had a friendly conversation about their enforcement work  checking on unregistered and uninsured ATVs, of which there are many who use the muddy trails of Marlborough Forest.  The guy then asked if we knew Mike Tate, who was his father.  Of course we did, since Mike is a well-know local birder.  Small world.