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A Birding Montreal Recommended Birding Site :"The Mountain" - Parc du Mont Royale and the Cemetery |
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A Birding Montreal Recommended Birding Site :"The Mountain" - Parc du Mont Royale and the Cemetery |
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LOCATION
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A great outdoor playground for the people of Montreal this well preserved and wooded hill (one hesitates to call it a real mountain even if that is what it is universally known as) in the very centre of downtown was landscaped by the same man who designed Central Park in New York and must be a welcome sight for migrating birds of all species as they flog across the flatlands of the St. Lawrance plain in spring and fall. It seems to be a magnet for so many species and is an absolute "must" for anyone visiting the area. Adjacent to the public park are two huge cemeteries, the biggest for the catholics and the smaller, and more bird favoured, for everyone else. A pleasant day can be spent rambling between the two ticking off lifer after lifer.
Both the park and the cemetery lie on steep slopes with a number of hollows and alternating areas of wooded and open landscape. Trees are predominantly deciduous with scattered stands of evergreens. The proximity of the city limits the number of nesting species but the general positions and aspect of the site means that something in excess of 150 species can be seen here at one time or another. The cemetery is, as one would expect, a more managed area with many of the shrubs being non-native although there are a goodly number of berry bearing shrubs and crab-apple trees that carry fruit well into the winter and ensure a fair number of the hardier species of birds will stick around and a number of owl species can be reliably seen throughout the area.. On top of the mountain a number of feeders are maintained and these attract interesting birds all year round. As well as the warblers, flycatchers, finches and buntings look overhead for hawks and in the likely spots for owls. Maps and guides can be obtained from the visitor centres. A large parking area adjacent to the main visitor centre for the mountain is well placed between park and cemetery - access via Cote de neige.
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