Saturday, August 4, 2007

The long weekend starts here

4 August 2007

Taking advantage of a full three days off work, Saturday I ventured out early starting at St-Lazare sand pits, then making a few stops before winding up at St-Timothee marsh and speed skating circuit

The ‘pits’ were ok, still lots of water but a couple of Immature Hooded Mergansers were nice and the Pied-billed Grebe chicks are now fully grown. The small pits to the west had fewer shorebirds than last week, just Lesser Yellowlegs and the usual Spotted Sandpipers.

On to St-Timothee and the boat ramp car park just below the hydro. As expected a few Caspian Terns were present, six or so at one time, they are often there in August. The rocks on which they sit are a couple of hundred metres from the bank, hence the rubbish photo below.

St-Timothee was nice, no one else there and the Least Bitterns were sitting up on the vegetation, albeit a fair way off, sounds like another excuse for a lousy photo? it certainly is. A couple of Black-crowned Night-herons were also present, both birds of the year and both immortalised below. One slight frustration about St-Timothee, apart from the possibility of being mown down by an in-line skater, is the lack of management of the site for viewing. There is a nicely constructed although obscurely located viewing thing, complete with cripple friendly slats, i.e. only a cripple could use them, but that is it. The place really could do with a birding circuit with blinds designed for viewing from without injury. It would remove the possibility of an encounter with Lycra at speed and make the place more reserve like. Having said that it is the best we have and at least there is no hunting there.

On the way home I tried for Bobolinks in a few of their favourite fields, for some reason the fields had all been cut down. I know that they will be developed (sounds like an improvement but really, if you are a Bobolink, it is not) at some point but why cut them during the breeding season, land developers really need a little education but who will provide it?

Finally I think I mentioned a Black Bear having been around the towns west of Montreal, well they shot it. It seems that the bear had found some Beehives and was eating the honey (it’s a bear, its their thing) so the Canadian Wildlife Disposal Squad swept in and shot it but didn’t kill it and it wandered off. They sent for tracker dogs but the scent was a few hours old by the time they arrived (possibly they got lost on the way) and had faded, of course all that very dry weather must have helped diminish the scent! So the upshot is that the bear blasters are sure it will have crept off and died somewhere, so good are they at protecting the Canadian public from a sticky bear or, it just might be somewhere with a wound and grudge against humans which might persuade it to try a change of diet!




































So here are three awful photos, top Caspian Terns, middle Least Bittern and bottom a Marsh Wren in a marsh, it just would not come out!



































Two different Black-crowned Night-herons, despite the viewing difficulties

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