Morning Light and Yellowlegs

12 September

Morning light slides behind a Joe Pye Weed seeded to illuminate it, before moving on … leaving the seeds for the finches to enjoy.

I live a few paces from the (mighty) St-Lawrence River at the western end of Montreal Island. Plenty of shorebirds come through during migration but don’t often stop to be enjoyed as the river is indeed mighty and exposed shoreline for foraging is in short supply - that, plus access to the water can be restricted due to houses along the edges. Anyway, this year the water level is exceptionally low, probably as low as we have seen since 1998 when we first arrived (a friend says “not this low since the sixties”) and 20 minutes walk away there is access to the river where the Ouatouais river joins the St-Lawrence in the town of Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue. There were shorebirds - all of them Lesser Yellowlegs (I should have gone last week) but nice to see. Also assorted Gulls, Canada Geese, Terns and Cormorants out on the rocks.

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Thinking yet about next year’s wildlife garden?

Here are some excellent planning ideas from a short post by Birds Canada

https://www.birdscanada.org/bird-friendly-gardening-6-tips-from-sarah-and-dans-backyard

Let the Insects Guide You

If insects love your garden, birds will too. Sarah keeps a close eye on which plants are getting nibbled. “Insects eating all of a specific type of plant is not a sign there’s too many insects. It’s a sign there’s not enough of that type of food. Canada violet is getting decimated. That’s a sign I need to plant more of it. Wild ginger, on the other hand, has only been nibbled at, so that tells us there’s currently enough.” This approach helps ensure their garden supports the food web from the ground up.