The beautifully named Evening Grosbeak has long been considered a very rare bird in southern Ontario. I usually see them at bird feeders in northern Ontario. I have heard that some are being spotted in our area and we were fortunate in having one fly over head and perch briefly in a far-off tree.

My grandmother was a great admirer of this species and she wrote the entry on it for the Bent Life History published by the Smithsonian Institution between the 1920s and the 1950s. A stuffed grosbeak graced their living room.

Here are some photos taken in Quebec City in the 1970’s:

Other birds:

Species list:  Canada goose, mallard, American black duck, common merganser, hooded merganser, bufflehead, common goldeneye, red-tailed hawk, ring-billed gull, lesser yellowlegs, belted kingfisher, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, blue jay, American crow, black-capped chickadee, cedar waxwing, American robin, evening grosbeak, northern cardinal, American goldfinch. (21 species)

Park views:

Some botany:

Today’s groups:

NATURE POETRY

November, month of mornings, misty-bright
With golden light—
Month when the many-tinted leaf
Lies thick upon the moss below;
While to and fro
The breezes moan, as if in grief.       – Mortimer Collins (1827–76)

Miles Hearn