I knew that there would be periodic birding droughts during this Tour, and the last couple of weeks turned to be the first of those times. While there were a number of new species I could have potentially seen along my route during this section, none of them presented themselves for my viewing, and, even if they had, the several days of bad weather I endured would have made actually seeing them much more challenging. Despite riding past numerous areas containing suitable habitat, the majority of the birds I saw were members of the melodious, but frustratingly common, quartet consisting of Common Grackle, American Robin, Red-Winged Blackbird, and Song Sparrow. Though they are all admirable species in their own ways, I have had my fill of them, for now.

The best I could manage during that period was a couple of close calls. One was during a brief sunny spell in Disraeli, Quebec, where I found a nice woody patch behind the restaurant where I had just finished a tasty lunch. I thought that I picked out an interesting new warbler, but on inspection of the few bad photos I was able to get, I had to conclude that it was a Blackburnian Warbler. To be sure, that is an attractive bird, but I had recently observed them for the time during a trip to Colombia I made in January. It was fun, however, to think about the remote possibility that the one I saw that day was one of the same birds I saw several weeks earlier, thousands of kilometers away. The other close call was a fairly accommodating Ruffed Grouse male, which strutted across the road I was cycling along. I have had that species on my List for a long time, mainly from seeing flushed birds that I may, or may not, have identified correctly. So, at least the one passable photo I took can firm up that record.

It would have been fun to break a out of a slump with a extraordinary bird, perhaps another nice warbler, or an owl, a group I am hopelessly deficient with, or maybe an example of a boreally-oriented waterfowl species. But, no, it was a Gull. Specifically, a Great Black-Backed Gull. This is probably another bird I have seen in the past, when I wasn’t paying attention, which is even more likely in this case, since I am not particularly interested in dealing with the perplexities of Gull identification. Though, even though it was not the most interesting bird I have seen so far, the straightforward examples I saw near Campbellton, New Brunswick, where I had paused to visit one of my cousins, were better than nothing.

This week I will be moving forward into a different habitat type that should give me the chance to pick up a number of new birds. This could help with my rate of finding new species, which has not been what it should have been lately. However, the way my luck has been lately, I would not be surprised if I come up blank again.