Quebec year list 2007

2007-12-31T17:12:00.000-05:00

And the final result is....

At the end of this big year time to look at the stats, look back a bit at highlights and to look forwards to the new. I'm not going to post my favourite photos of 2007 but looking back I seem to have been fairly prolific again, I hope you enjoyed them.

My favourite Quebec bird of the year is a tie between Connecticut Warbler and Sabine's Gull. The former because we worked for it and it has been a long time coming. The latter because I like gulls and I think there are few better looking ones around than Sabine's. My World bird of the year is Andean Cock-of-the Rock and I look forwards to seeing them again.

The big year ended on 266, I missed quite a lot, in part because its not always feasible to do the distances required and work has been demanding this year. Also rarities, or at least rarities that stayed around, were few and far between. Another factor has been the limited supply of news in Quebec and, more importantly, good directions. I owe a debt of gratitude to Louise Simard and her Oiseaux rares du Quebec site which provided me with some good information and also to those Quebec birders who took the time to share, too many don't and I'm gradually begining to realise who they are.

The garden list has flourished and the score for the year was 88, bringing the overall total since we moved here in 2003 to 128. The best new bird for the garden was another tie, a Northern Grey Shrike on December 29th was tremendous, I hope it didn't catch the American Tree Sparrow it was after and comes back for another go. A Hornemanni Hoary (Arctic) Redpoll on 22 December was also special, my first 'Snowball'.

My local patch has not had the coverage it deserves but I still managed to take my list there to 193 with three additions for the year. My visits were down, as stated earlier, being just 64 and taking my pits visits to 549 all told. My pits year list was just 141 species.

In Quebec I managed to see seven new species although only Connecticut Warbler was a lifer.

On the World stage, visits back to England in January and then Ecuador in November-December resulted in a World year list of 912 species, the Ecuador trip bumped up my World list to 2,335.

Some stats for the big year were: Field days in Quebec 217. Kilometers covered 26958. Species/bird days per month were January 74/10; February 72/15; March 75/19; April 131/24; May 195/27; June 137/21; July 122/9; August 151/24; September 119/30; October 110/20; November 64/10; December 36/8.

And so there it ends.

If you are a regular reader of my rants and ravings and want to continue to be offended, my 2008 blog address is http://qcbirding2008.blogspot.com/

2007-12-30T08:56:00.000-05:00

A few extras

Its quiet birdwise so I thought I'd post a final flush of photos from Ecuador. They are here in no particular order.

White-tipped Dove, Tandayapa.

White-chinned Jacamar, Sacha.

Tyrian Metaltail, Guango.

Stripe-headed Brush-Finch, Guango.

Speckled Hummingbird, San Isidro.

Sparkling Violet-ear, Tandayapa.

Southern Lapwing, San Isidro.

Smoke-coloured Peewee, Tandayapa.

The San Isidro mystery owl.

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Tandayapa.

Female Purple-bibbed Whitetip, Tandayapa.

Parrot lick, Sacha.

Pale-mandibled Aracari, Rio Silanche.

Orange-cheeked Parrot, Sacha.

A mystery hummer at Tandayapa that I think is a Wedge-billed, any other suggestions (too small for a Brown Violet-ear).

Mealy Amazon, Sacha.

Mealy Amazons, Sacha.

Female Masked Trogon, Tandayapa.

Buff-tailed Coronet, Tandayapa.

Western Emerald, Tandayapa.

Buff-tailed Coronet, Tandayapa.

Buff-tailed Coronet, Tandayapa.

Golden-crowned Flycatcher, San Isidro.

Green & Rufous Kingfisher, Sacha.

Dusky-headed Parrot, Sacha

Double-toothed Kite, Sacha.

Collared Inca, Guango.

Brown Violet-ear, Tandayapa.

Broad-billed Motmot, Milpe.

Female Booted Racket-tail, Tandayapa.

Male Booted Racket-tail, Tandayapa.

Blue-headed Parrot, Sacha.

Andean Emerald, Tandayapa.

Western Emerald, Tandayapa.

2007-12-22T17:54:00.000-05:00

Ecuador views

This is the last post relating to our recent birding trip to Ecuador. if you want to read chronologically please go back a few posts.

Having thoroughly review all of my notes and having sorted out a couple of IDs the trip list for the whole sortie is 593 seen (453 lifers) and 42 species heard only (635 for those who are hard of maths).

Throughout the whole trip Tropical Birding were first rate and our next guided will be with them, the whole thing could ot have been better, watch this space.

A view on the way to Antisana

A Culpeo, a Fox type that danced in front of the van.

A Llama (in the foreground) up on the high paramo. The Lammas are stock animals but still evocative of the landscape. For more information about Laamas (you have probably guessed, I can't spell Llama) see Monty Python's Llamma sketch!

A view of the Antisana volcano. Quito is surrounded by volcanos, I hope they have a long blue touchpaper when they go off.

A Brazilian Rabbit possibly trying to avoid a Brazilian wax job.

One of many many stunning butterflies seen.

A tree of Oropendola nests.

The welcome view at Sacha Lodge.

Rush hour at Sacha.

Part of the Sacha welcome committee, a Spectacled Cayman

Howler Monkey, part of the audio entertaiment at Sacha, er this one's a male.

Spider Monkey, lots around Sacha and all cute.

A Southern Tamandua that ran up a tree but then found out it was not much of a tree at all.

A Pygmy Marmoset, the smaller monkey in the World and possibly the ugliest.

Suicide Towers, the rain washes the stains off regularly.

The wooden canopy tower (from the bottom)

The Tandayapa Valley, is that a Toucan Barbet in the third tree from the right?

2007-12-22T15:58:00.001-05:00

To Antpitta or not to Antpitta

Friday 7th December.

We had pre-arranged with Tropical Birding for a trip on the Friday to see the Antpittas at Angel Paz’s farm. When the Tropical Birding guide Olger arrived at Tandayapa we discussed alternatives, our trip list was already quite spectacular, I fancied adding a few more. We agreed on a 4.30 start and Olger was to put together an ad-hoc itinerary whereby we would bird some of the Western Slope and enjoy ‘a good days general birding’

Driving out through the early fog we descended onto a dirt road heavily used by trucks, seemingly moving a hill from one place to another. Birds (and ticks, that’s lifers not insect pests) were everywhere and Olger was quick to locate all of the callers, singers and skulkers. A Brown Wood-rail was coaxed out of the undergrowth and gave a virtuoso performance of its amazing song. If you want to hear it, Google Xeno-canto, a splendid repository of bird songs and calls from the Neotropics.

We moved on to Rio Silanche then to Milpe and both were just great places to bird. The latter site could do with a full day alone as everywhere we went we found birds. One downside of the day was that Sandra got a migraine and so preferred to remain in the car. The fact that she missed so many birds is reason enough to go back and spend more time in the west, back up reasons are the gaps where Moss-backed Tanager, Scaled Fruiteater and Toucan Barbet are on our Ecuador lists.

The two preserves we birded had an entrance fee of $6 and the permit was good for both sites, ridiculously cheap. At Rio Silanche I even climbed up to observation tower with barely a spatter although the canopy birds must have known we were coming as they had vamoosed. Down below a Black-headed Antthrush actually strutted its stuff in a gap in the vegetation and some Rufous-fronted Wood-Quails bolted for cover when we approached. At Milpe we found two good flocks and worked both seeing some great birds. In the woods the bizarre Club-winged Manakins ‘meeped’ their mechanical sound from many perches.

By late afternoon the light was going as clouds began to thicken and so we made our way back to Tandayapa. As a finale we birded the old Mindo road finding Plate-billed Mountain Toucan and even getting a Spillman’s Tapaculo to show itself. Back at the lodge Sandra hit the sack and I hit the hummer feeders, we were on for a good day list.

All but three of the regulars showed bringing the ‘good days general birding’ list to 175. Thanks are due to Olger for excellent guiding and to the driver, I don’t know is name so I’ll call him Clint, who left Sandra to recover in the car while he waited for us.
I managed to grab a few photos of variable quality. The next post will be animals and scenery and there will endeth the blogging of our Ecuador trip.

Brown Wood-rail. It was dark!

Broad-billed Motmot, yes they look this good.

Ornate Flycatcher, a very good looking member of the flycatching tribe.

This interesting hermit was at Rio Silanche, it had us stumped at the time but having pored over the avalaible literature, I came up with Bronzy Hermit, any other thoughts would be appreciated.

Pacific Parrotlet.

Purple-chested Hummingbird, although according to HBW the tail should be dark.

Rufous-tailed Jacamar, our fifth jacamar species for the trip.

Swallow-tailed Kite, a small flock entertained us at Rio Silanche.

2007-12-20T20:47:00.001-05:00

Time to relax, well sort of.

Tandayapa 6-8 December 2007

The hectic pace of the tour was starting to play on our old limbs and we were looking forwards to relaxing at Tandayapa Bird Lodge on the west slope. Renato collected us from the airport in Quito and we bade farewell to the Scott, Jim and Marcelo. The ride out to Tandayapa was to be about an hour and 45 minutes, we barely saw a bird the whole way.

Ascending the lousy road to the Tandayapa car park we were offered a choice of foot propelled route to the lodge, the ramp or the stairs. If you go, and you really should, take the stairs, we took the ramp and arrived breathless at the very smart lodge.

Taking almost three minutes to dump the bags in the room we repaired to the balcony and were immediately wowed by what Scott had described as the best hummingbird spectacle in the World, he is 100% right. Sipping coffee on the sun speckled deck we soon recorded 15 species of hummingbird, most of them new. Its great fun to watch the tiny Purple-throated Woodstars whack the bigger nectar slurpers to claim a feeding slot. Take a look at the previous post for a short video clip.

Over the next few days we birded the trails, hide and decks and saw some of the regulars such as Immaculate Antbird and Masked Trogon going about their daily routine. The trails were not easy birding but we did manage to see a feeding flock high up on the Toucan Trail and spent ages getting views of a skulking singer on the Potoo Trail eventually identifying the mystery at Bronze-olive Pygmy-Tyrant. We enjoyed excellent meals and met birders from Venezuela who were also enjoying the delights of Ecuador. Later John from the Amazon (sounds like a sort of Tarzan figure but then you should have seen him charging through the brush for the Hairy-crested Antbird) arrived at the lodge for the second part of his trip and we enjoyed a beer and swapped stories, it made for a great finale to our Ecuadorian escapade.

Tandayapa is the place to base yourself to bird the west slope, we have it on our radar for a return visit, we still need to see Toucan Barbet after all.

Below a few photos. Our day out on the western slope will feature in the next post with the final Ecuador post saved for scenery and a few animal shots.

Violet-tailed Sylph, a superb hummingbird.

Western Emerald, a zippy little hummer and not shy.

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, one of the bruisers apt to give all the other nectar customers a hard time.

Andean Emerald, a very classy little bird.

Purple-bibbed Whitetip showing both.

Brown Violet-ear, not so flashy as the others but with subtle beauty.

Green Violet-ear, you see its basically green with this violet ear.

Sparkling Violet-ear, the sports version of the violet ears.

Buff-tailed Coronet, very fluffy.

Fawn-breasted Brilliant, a nice hummer.

Purple-throated Woodstar, the all action super agressive midget.

Booted Racket-tail, a real star in its snow boots.

Wanna fight?

Tropical Parula a colouful gem.

Blue-winged Mountain Tanager, a spanking big tanager.

Spotted Barbtail in a hurry as usual.

Crimson-rumped Toucanet, go on show us your rump.

Golden-crowned Flycatcher, a light attracted insect opportunist.

Immaculate Antbird, very immaculate indeed.

Golden-naped Tanager, one of the bright lights of the canopy.

Masked Trogon, a patient slow motion moth snaffler.

Streak-headed Woodcreeper, one of the easier to ID brown tree huggers.

2007-12-19T18:01:00.000-05:00

Ecuador Video clips.

Below a few clips from our recent Ecuador trip. If your computer is steam driven you won't be able to view them, sorry.

The sequence is paddling out at Sacha towards the lodge.

Parrot licks

Tandayapa Hummingbird feeders.

Enjoy.

2007-12-18T19:09:00.000-05:00

Amazonian birding

29-Nov to 5-Dec 2007

The continuing Ecuaudor vacation

After leaving Guacamayos Ridge we took the road out east towards our evening destination, Casa del Suizo lodge on the River Napo. En-route we did a few birding stops, the most spectacular being on the Loreto Road. We birded the first 2km or so finding a substantial feeding flock that kept us active until a sudden sharp shower forced us to cover. In the space of about 45 minutes around 25 species were seen, most of them new.

Our itinerary meant that we needed to push on and we bumped through this poorer part of Ecuador noting the change in birds from the foothill glamour pusses to the lowland ‘trash’ species such as Smooth-billed Ani and Ruddy Ground-Dove. Arriving on the river bank we bade farewell to the trusty van. Luis would be over-nighting with us before returning to Quito without, as he cheerfully said, stopping all of the time. We boarded the slim craft and sped down the river. Suddenly we were being passed by flocks of birds, Sand-coloured Nighthawks with a total of c350 in numerous loose groups. This was ticks all around time, even for Scott. Later enquiries revealed that this species is not seen to frequently, serendipity was with us again.

Casa del Suizo is quite swish, set high on the banks of the river with a luxury pool and pleasant bar/restaurant. Light faded fast and we soon settled down to a meal, the daily bird log and then some welcome sleep. I arranged with Scott to take advantage of the first hour of daylight birding a local marsh, weather permitting.

Rain overnight relented and a couple of Ladder-tailed Nightjars flirting around the chalet roofs were new. We walked through the sleepy village and tried to tempt the Rufous-sided Crakes that inhabit a damp field to show, no joy though but I was able to add the species to my moving grass list. After breakfast it was time to board the boat for the lengthy trip downstream and we (actually I) settled back in the newly installed deck chairs for the fairground ride offered by the narrow boat and the high seating position. Sandra was not keen on this and after birding one of the islands, and seeing Parker’s Spinetail well, we altered the arrangement to Sandra’s relief.

Birding from the boat was fairly relaxed and we passed Cocoi Herons, Swallow-winged Puffbirds and small bands of hirundines as we made our way to Coca. In Coca we awaited the arrival of the rest of the transferees by entertaining ourselves with a few nice birds and some interesting refugee animals. In Coca we enjoyed refreshments and were introduced to our new group member John, another Californian but from the sunny end and Marcelo, our Sacha guide and legendary demon birder. Pablo, our native guide also joined us, the team were ready to go.

We sped downriver for a couple of hours and eased into the Sacha Lodge moorings ready to do some true Amazon birding. We paused on the dock waiting for the non-birding tourists to go away and commenced the first of several trips down the boardwalk picking up new species as we went.

Here is not really the time to go into too much detail about the birds seen during our stay at Sacha, my trip report will do then when written. Needless to say, Sacha was everything it says it is and the birding, although hard work at times and pretty intense, was very rewarding.

Sacha Lodge is reached by water only. Once the boardwalk has been traversed you climb into a narrow canoe and are paddled down a creek and across a lake. This is very atmospheric, especially when lightening is flashing across the sky and the heavens open as happened on one such crossing., it is also a pleasant way to bird and we utilised the canoes on several occasions to good effect. The lodge hoves into view once the creek is cleared and the jungle experience truly begins.

Our time at Sacha included a trip to suicide towers, the 50m high walkway strung between three gantries guaranteed to produce brown trousers in those, like me, who don’t like heights. There is also a wooden tower which is wrapped around a sturdy Kapok tree. At ‘only’ 40m I ventured up it and, while it may not be quite brown trouser time, I was definitely touching cloth.

Our schedule also included birding the river islands for the specialties found there and the terra firma forest on the south shore. The north shore and flooded forest or varzea hold different species and we covered both. We also visited two parrot licks, banks where several species of parrot come to ingest clay, an antidote for the poisonous fruit they sometimes eat.

I like to think we birded hard, we never shirked a challenge, plunging off trail in pursuit of antthrushes and manakins when Marcelo led and trying so very hard for some of the night birds. Our last night was spent plunging through undergrowth as a Crested Owl led us a merry dance in pitch black. How dangerous this may have been I neither know or care, we tried but failed although the scuttling Scorpions seen in the torch beams as we made our way back for dinner were good entertainment.

Sacha was a fabulous experience, we would go back tomorrow without a blink and perhaps a few years hence we will. We left still seeing new species and left steamy Coca for the swift flight over the High Andes. Our trip still had legs, next stop Tandayapa.

Now a few photos. The jungle is pretty dark so not much photograph took place. A later post will have views and clips from the parrot licks.

Punk rocker bird, a Mottled Elaenia at Casa del Suizo

Brown-chested Martin, enjoying a hot flagpole in Coca.

Pied Plover, the Neoptropical equivalent of Egyptian Plover.

Hoatzin, as seen earlier. Common around the lagoon at Sacha, their curious spitting, hissing and grunting calls give them away, also the fact that they move through the vegetation like a grand piano helps to locate them.

From the boardwalk, a Great Potoo. We saw it on the way in along with Common Potoo, a sort of welcoming committee.

King Vulture, always looking for a free meal.

Brown Nunbird, a good bird of the forests that is brown but looks nothing like a Nun.

Double-toothed Kite. This immature entertained us for a while as it inexpertly fell from its perch.

Orange-crowned Manakin, looks nothing like a manakin.

Purplish Jacamar, patiently waiting for a meal.

Ladder-tailed Nightjar, nap time by the river.

Parrot lick view, the licks were spectacular, go see for yourself.

Hairy-crested Antbird, lousy picture I know but just look at that eye.

You looking at me? A Boat-billed Heron enjoys a grandstand view while we were creek birding.

White-necked Puffbird looking down from his lofty perch.

Green & Rufous Kingfisher. The two small kingfishers (the other is American Pygmy) have long been on my want to see list, we got them both.

Two special herons were possible at Sacha. Zigzag eluded us, Agami didn't. Taken from a moving boat in the dark!

Yellow-browed Antbird, looks more like a warbler.

Black-fronted Nunbird, common around Sacha.

Spectacled Owl peeping out of its nest site atop a palm.

Smooth-billed Ani, a trash bird but who cares?

2007-12-16T10:57:00.000-05:00

San Isidro and environs

November 26-29 2007

San Isidro is one of those places where you really feel that you would like to spend more time. The lodge is well laid out with nicely situated cabins, a fine common room with a mirador on the roof, good trails and spectacular catering. Our time there was relatively short but a great taster to suggest that the venue would be good for a weeks self guiding sometime in the future.

The trip from Papallacta to San Isidro had packed in a few must see birds, prime amongst these being Torrent Duck. This superb fast river specialist (the clue is in the name) is just great to look at and it has the advantage of not living in a dense tangle claiming a loose association with ants!

The first full day at San Isidro was to comprise a morning on the trails, the afternoon out birding on a road but first we had been promised pre breakfast birds in the shape of the light attracted bounty snafflers. The paths at San Isidro are illuminated at night and the lights have the effect of attracting some pretty hefty night fliers. Moths the size of dinner plates are consumed by the noisy gangs of Subtropical Caciques and Russet-backed Oropendolas. Add to this melange the retiring Highland Motmot and a variety of smaller but equally opportunistic birds and we are talking ten ticks before breakfast.

Our next bit of business, before hitting the trails, was to feed the antpittas. Antpittas are elusive species but they have been found to be ‘trainable’ and will come to take worms provided at regular times. Our first consumer was the lumpy Chestnut-crowned Antpitta, an individual we were to meet pretty frequently over the course of the next few days.

Flash photography is discouraged so the shots below are poor but you do get the idea of what the birds look like. The Chestnut-crowned fed pretty voraciously by the trackside, bins were not required. Nearby a White-bellied Antpitta required a little more vocal persuasion but eventually gambolled up the track like a haemerroid affected pensioner to the shaded clearing and fed circumspectly of the fare provided. Next we checked out the hummer feeders and then off we went into the ‘woods’.

The trick of birding the woods is to find a feeding flock and stay with it, this we did for quite a while and we managed to get onto most of the species Scott called out. Some gave prolonged views, others fleeted by or took some digging out for satisfactory views, it was great fun. At one point we chanced upon a Variegated Bristle-Tyrant, a compact flycatcher which seemed to be quite inquisitive. It soon became apparent that the bird had food and was nesting nearby. Cautious observation revealed the nest to be just above the path and we watched both parents zipping in and out feeding young.

As the day heated up the woods went fairly quiet so we slipped back to the lodge for lunch before climbing aboard the van for a bit of lane birding. The lanes were quite productive and we managed to see quetzals, fruiteaters, many tanagers and, by good fortune, a roaming flock of the nomadic and noisy White-capped Tanager.

After dinner we had scheduled to do some more extensive night birding. Our first evening's stroll back from dinner had resulted in a Rufous-banded Owl being surprised by the spotlight. A little after our group had retired I also managed to see the star bird of the night at San Isidro, the ‘mystery’ owl.

Our second evening’s dinner had a pause between mouthfuls while we all went outside to see the mystery owl perched up in one of its regular spots. Sandra and myself then joined Scott up on nearby Guacamayos Ridge were we had very good spotlight views of Andean Potoo and White-breasted Screech-Owl.

The next day we were due to visit a waterfall but the bridge was out so we did a little exploring, finding some good lower elevation birds. Our good fortune with the weather continued and we were only slowed by a brief shower mid afternoon. Our last afternoon at San Isidro still produced a few birds before we set off the next day to bird Guacamayos Ridge in daylight, then we moved on towards our Amazon destination.

Below a few shots, anyone reading this blog knows I’ll stick anything on it so don’t be too surprised by the quality of some of the shots.

Highland Motmot, an early morning snacker on the mega moths.

The Chestnut-crowned Antpitta. After the hushed excitement at watching this being fed, we saw if frequently hopping around in the cover ignoring us, once, late in the afternoon, we nearly fell over it as it just would not get off the path.

White-bellied Antpitta, it was darker and this bird was shyer hence the dross shot.

A virtually tail-less Long-tailed Sylph, its colours changed daramatically by the use of flash.

The San Isidro mystery owl. its true identification as most likely a previously undescribed species will soon be established after it was trapped in early 2007 and DNA samples taken. Another lamp hunter attracted by the family sized moths. For more info just Google 'San Isidro mystery owl'.

One of very few shorebird types seen on the trip, a small pasture had a few Southern Lapwings posturing to each other.

Torrent Tyrannulet, usually seen hopping amongst the rocks in rivers.

Magpie Tanager. We missed them in Brazil last year (see previous blog) so it was nice to catch up with them, just FYI, they are a tanager species that looks like a Magpie!

Our aborted waterfall trip led us to explore a nice river valley where we found loads of birds. This female Golden-olive Woodpecker was a local nester.

A Rufous-breasted Flycatcher, reasonably common.

Cinnamon Flycatcher showing its very wide bill.

Pale-edged Flycatcher, one of those names that make no real sense as many members of the myiarchus flycatchers manage a pale edge somewhere in their plumage.

A roadside bird hastily snapped before a good shower, a Red-breasted Blackbird.

Another Brooke-Bond bird, this female Andean Cock-of-the Rock paused for photos. En-route back to San Isidro a male shot across the road like an orange flash, truly spectacular birds.

A group of Turquoise Jays were part of a good flock on the Guacamayos Ridge.

This Dusky Piha was also with the flock. Apparently it is a cotinga but its actions are more reminiscent of a trogon, very deliberate.

2007-12-15T08:32:00.000-05:00

Breathless

Antisana-Papallacta and down to Guango Lodge 25-26 November 2007.

First a few details and tips about such a trip and just to say that this is not meant to be a trip report, just a few comments and photos.

The birding venue for the first couple of days was at altitude, this has a deleterious effect, even on someone as obviously fit as me. The result of the altitude is difficulty breathing and a slight disorientation which results in some of the longer winded bird names being mispronounced i.e. Rufous-crowned Tody-Flycatcher might be reduced to “what is this”. Also the sheer volume of new species means that when your head is as full of seventies pop music, football and other utterly useless information as mine is, then you have to make some hard disc space for the new stuff. To that end a load of the pop music was deleted so please don’t rely on me in a pub quiz answering such questions as “what are Bangles’ three greatest hits”. That information has been cast to the eternal flame and it will have to be a manic Monday before I walk like and Egyptian again.

Now that I have lost your attention I’ll introduce the group for the first part of the trip. Our leader, henceforth known as ‘Boss’ was Scott Olmstead. Scott is as good a field birder as I have ever met (and I’ve met quite a few). Sharp ears and eyes, enthusiasm and energy and a diplomacy beyond his estimated 24 years, he also almost has a beard, one of those young people beards reminiscent of the growth seen in popular 70s mag ‘Health and Efficiency’ some of you will get that joke, some definitely won’t.

Our fellow group member was Jim Scarff a resident of California. His performance at altitude was impressive given a severe bout of bronchitis. He was on part two of his Ecuador trip having been out west in part one. Our driver was Louis on his first real ‘Tropical Birding’ excursion, what a nice guy he was, patient, attentive and we really enjoyed his company.

We pushed out of Quito early and climbed up to Antisana in the Andes birding as we went. We saw lots including the much desired Andean Condor, a Brook-bond bird (I’ll explain later).

Our route took us onto the high paramo above the tree line and eventually to a large and windy lake. The birding was pretty exciting given that most of the species were new. The day’s total was 70 species, the highlights were condors, Andean Gulls (sad I know) and my bird of the day, a Curve-billed Tinamou, my first tinamou of any kind. The weather was kind with just a short shower wetting the van rather than us, we ended the day at Guango Lodge and marvelled at the hummingbirds zooming around the many feeders, those Sword-billeds are a joke right!

After a comfortable night in the cosy lodge we birded the local hill and then went back up high to try to dig out another much wanted species, Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe. The seedsnipe eluded us despite much energetic bog bouncing by the Boss, but other stuff was seen, again most of it new, and when we pulled into Cabanas San Isidro for three nights we had seen 80 species for the day and, more importantly, we could breath again

Andean Condor, one of about five seen. Big birds but this one was over a mile away. I mentioned that it is a Brook-bond bird, that means it is one of the species depicted on cards given free with tea when I was a kid. I collected them all and now I'd like to see them all.

Cinereous Harrier, a tick for the Boss. It looks like a female Northern Harrier but with a Spanish accent. We were very excited, we saw two more so I put them down as 'common' in my notebook!

An unexpected sight, sitting as it was in the middle of the barren paramo. This Great Horned Owl could have tried harder to be Megallenic, split them all is what I say.

A Stout-billed Cinclodes, common at altitude, you can see the stout-bill here but the cinclodes are well hidden by the feathers.

Its hard taking their photos when they have hiccups.

Ecuadorian Hillstar, a male and one of the 50 (yes 50) species of hummingbird seen on the trip.

And the missus, they were breeding under the eves of an abandoned hut.

Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle. In shape like a Bateleur, a very imposing hawk.

Aplomado Falcon, just one seen up on the paramo but great views. For Europeans this species reminds me of a heavy Eleonora's Falcon.

A good sized flock of Andean Gulls were around at Antisana but the preoccupation with everything else meant that I only managed one hasty snap.

Streak-backed Canestero, this grassland skulker prompted us to walk up a steepish incline over a muddy field to get views. It turned out to be a serendipetous choice as a Curve-billed Tinamou, previously undetected in the field, bolted to the vegetation nearby giving great views.

Tawny Antpitta's are,or where, the easiest of this group to see. We heard them frequently but only managed to get views of a couple. The first called from a bush, peeping out at us trying to figure out where the playback was coming from. The second I imitated and drew it from its song perch until it was within reasonable range.

Once we got to Guango Lodge the focus changed to hummers. The light was 'challenging' but I managed a few shots. This is a Chestnut-bellied Coronet.

The Sword-billed Hummingbird is surely one of the creaters' apprentice peices. They have to be seen to be believed, so disproportionate is the bill. They do, however, retain a certain grace and when you see some of the flora you realise that the design is pretty specific.

An arty shot.

A Long-tailed Sylph, this design is a little less obvious but impressive nevertherless.

Next stop San Isidro.

2007-12-13T07:46:00.001-05:00

Wow – so that was Ecuador

24 Nov – 9 Dec 2007

Vacation time came around and this year we went to Ecuador. Our trip was with Tropical Birding, the Quito based birding tour company and they were of the highest calibre. The trip was their High Andes to the Amazon tour and we tacked on three days at the end in the west, staying at Tandayapa Bird Lodge just so we did not have to return to the snow early!

This is just a short post, more shots will follow and a little more detail. The basics of the trip were that we birded the Andes around Antisana and at the Papallacta Pass (4000m+), we then moved on to Guango Lodge, then San Isidro. After a few nights we then moved to overnight in a lodge on the Rio Napo before boating downstream to Sacha in the Amazon. To see details of the lodges, just google them. To see the trip itinary Google Tropical Birding, you might want to bookmark it, their tours are very very good.

The raw details of the trip, in terms of birds seen, are: Overall trip list of birds seen (by me), 590. Species heard only, 42. Leader only birds around 10, Sandra saw another 10 species from the canopy walkway at Sacha, I was too windy to walk the suicide bridges but I did get half way up one of the 50m towers and saw a few birds. I also made it up their canopy tower but was put off when a lump of a tourist appeared at the top and I doubted that it would support her and me!

So the whole trip, including our extension yielded in excess of 650 species, an astonishing total for two weeks birding.
I have a fair few pictures and video clips to sort out, below is one of the species everyone who visits the Amazon wants to see, the Hoatzin. This bird eats leaves as its staple diet, if you ever have to share a car with one you might want to keep the windows open!

2007-11-18T17:20:00.000-05:00

Last gasp for the Big Year? – Almost

17 November 2007

With the big year opportunities running out, the appearance of a Townsend’s Solitaire at Boucherville and a Carolina Wren that was not in someone’s garden was enough to tempt us to wander out to east Montreal. The wren had been seen around the feeders in part of the Montreal Botanical Gardens. The solitaire was found at one of the spots we always enjoy visiting, the Parc de la Freyer at Boucherville.

The day was bright but a brisk and decidedly cool breeze was enough to encourage us to don hat and gloves, good training for the forthcoming Andean exercise where it will almost certainly be windy and cool! It won’t come as a surprise to anyone to know that we saw neither target, its been that sort of year. Both had last been reported on November 15th but that means nothing here as observer coverage is not exactly at saturation point. As it happened we had a very nice day, especially when we got to Boucherville, and we saw some nice birds too.

At the Botanical Gardens we saw a few birds, House Finches, Dark-eyed Juncos and an alert Sharp-shinned Hawk intent on snacking. I managed a few snaps of the sharpie, they might have been better had a couple out strolling not marched up behind me as I stalked it. It was just bad luck that they had to walk the path where I was, we were the only people in the Alpine Garden and any of the seven or so other paths were available but no, they had to walk mine for the few minutes I needed it undisturbed!

At the Parc de la Freyer we hit birds straight away, a Long-eared Owl was ensconced in the top of a tangle and gave partial and entirely normal views for this species, we nipped back later when the admirers had moved on and took a few fuzzy shots. Further on and lots of calling indicated the fruit munchers` location, American Robins were in abundance along with some ridiculously tame Pine Grosbeaks. The grosbeaks were patiently destroying the crab apples and berries, oblivious to the clicks of the many cameras pointing their direction. As always seems to be the case with these birds, they may be close but they always have a face full of mush to detract slightly from their photogenicity.

In a more woody part of the park a Barred Owl was regretting choosing to roost in a fruit tree and the robins were giving it severe grief. Our presence, though tolerated, was just one more inconvenience associated with the task of avoiding the irate mobbing masses and killing something big for tea. The owl later chose to slip into a less obvious spot for some R & R, using its cunning and camouflage to hide behind a thin branch thus avoiding detection (see below).

It is a pity that the Parc de la Freyer is so far away, a 170KM round trip from home, I’m sure there must be something as attractive to birds out west here but as yet I haven’t found it. Visiting the parc has always been fruitful birdwise and the atmosphere is always good, the people we have met there are always very friendly and helpful.

Below are a few shots.

Just another 30 seconds and I would have been in place to avoid the branch across the sharpie's head, merci!

Male House Finch, they are not very common out where I live so it was nice to see a few healthy flocks.

Dark-eyed Junco showing its dark eye but I've never seen one's junco.

Are you a man or a mouse, I have to ask you understand.

Female/immature Pine Grosbeak, they outnumber the males about 4:1.

Male Pine Grosbeak. called a grossbeak either because their bills are large or that they are always 'gross'

Grosbeak feeding strategy, bite off big bits.

Almost decent, just needs a once over with a wet wipe.

They just look so out of place, surely something tropical?

The Barred Owl, virtually invisible thanks to its subtle plumage and careful positioning!

For those of you struggling to spot the owl in the photo above here is a close up, still tricky though as the branch partially obscures it, or am I just making excuses for a bad shot?

2007-11-11T17:55:00.001-05:00

A nip in the air

10-11 November 2007

With the clocks going back birding is now pretty much limited to weekends, here in Canada it was a week later than Europe to match with the USA. Perhaps with the strength of the Loony (Canadian Dollar) against the US Dollar we should have demanded a change of an hour and ten minutes, a little political joke there. Interestingly, despite the Loony rising by 25% against the US Dollar in the past six months, prices of imported goods from the USA have not dropped, yet another way for the thieves of banking and commerce to rob you.

Back to the birding and unless we were willing to drive over to Abitibi to stand in someone’s yard to look for a Painted Bunting or the same distance but the opposite way to Rimouski, to stand in someone’s yard to look for a Blue Grosbeak, our options were slim. Purple Sandpipers have returned to Tadoussac, good, we might eventually, but the thoughts of a long drive after another long week was not tempting and so birding was to be a strictly local affair. This turned out to be OK and the ‘pits’ (St-Lazare sand pits) had Northern Shrike and Bohemian Waxwing to enjoy, plus lots of Canada Geese to pick through for the inevitable Cackling Goose.

In the garden a nice pair of visitors were a pair of Evening Grosbeaks. Hopefully they will stick around and the male will get his chance to pose for the camera. Another visitor that is becoming increasing regular is Pileated Wodpecker. As an experiment I moved a feeder to just outside the living room window. The regulars soon took to it and the endless procession of Black-capped Chickadees is a big improvement on Canadian TV (except for the excellent Corner Gas). The Pileateds soon found it and bound in regularly to make short work of the suet blocks. Having this beast of a woodpecker less than four feet away from you is pretty memorable, I wonder if the Ivory-billed Woodpecker searchers have tried suet blocks.

Especially for Derek, Woody Woodpecker.

A Hairy Woodpecker damaging our trees again!

A late Fox Sparrow, not dead you understand, just late in the season.

Mme Evening Grosbeak, the male was a little coy but its nothing to carp on about.

2007-11-04T14:50:00.000-05:00

Duck double

4 November 2007

In an effort to fill the last duck gap in the year list, we went off to Chambly in the hope of securing the Canvasback that had been there a few days. As ever this required a trek across Montreal but traffic was light so it was pretty easy. The duck was there, sat in the middle of the river. A bonus was male Barrow’s Goldeneye with it.

Neither bird came closer than 150m so below are just record shots. The Canvasback was 266 for the year, it may well turn out to be the last addition or am I just being pessimistic!

2007-10-23T18:37:00.001-04:00

We went to Abitibi and saw……

20-21 October 2007

Following reports of a couple of Trumpeter Swans in Abitibi, on Lac Motte to be exact, we or rather I was inspired to go and look for them. In the end we, yes we, went Saturday morning, cruised through some fine scenery and hit Val D’Or by around 16.30. A swift perusal of the site showed, as expected, a beautiful lake with few viewing points and lots of summer cottages hogging the banks.

Sunday we were back on the banks looking for white blobs, any white blobs. You have probably already guessed that we did not see them. We toured the whole area looking at any water available but really very little was on offer bird wise. I harboured hopes of lucking a Sharp-tailed Grouse but no, or perhaps an American Three-toed Woodpecker, well actually, yes. One was on a telegraph pole at St-Mathieu but bad positioning meant nil chance of a photo and it soon settled into the big year theme of flying briskly away.

Because of the distance involved in getting home and the requirement to be at least human at work Monday morning, we had only limited time in the area. We checked out the fields around Barroutte, one of the few sites known, or at least shared, for Sharp-tailed Grouse in Quebec. We were every bit as successful as our last visit, obtaining fine views of fields.

The trip home was not too bad and the ‘parc’ was very scenic, we even enjoyed good views of Grey Jay but it was a long drive. For readers in Notts, and I do know that some birders from Notts do read this, the road through the parc is the equivalent of driving from Nottingham to Portland. There are no real services, apart from a couple of sites to picnic or widdle and apart from Ravens, you don’t see too many birds!

The drive back was about seven hours, enlivened only by a couple of trucks bearing the heads of recently surprised Moose. Quite why they shoot the Moose I’m not sure, they are big and stupid and just stare blankly at you, the Moose are just as bad, you might as well shoot a school bus. It poses the question, do they just enjoy killing big animals, if so they are clearly not fit to hold a licence for a gun!
Below a few photos. I’ve not given up on the year list but can I really drag myself to Tadoussac again, we shall see.

Distant Pileated Woodpecker, c100m away.

Northern Harrier, not too many hawks up north.

One of three Rough-legged Hawks seen.

Cryptic crazy chicken, the wrong grouse though.

Still working on the white balance.

2007-10-14T18:20:00.001-04:00

Vireo or cranes

14 October 2007

With news of a White –eyed Vireo being seen off the east end of Montreal, a place called Ile Charron, the choice was, do we trek across town to suffer disappointment or should we cruise out west, beyond the sacred Quebec boundary to try for a flock of Sandhill Cranes (not even a year tick but great birds) and a possible Canada tick, Eared (a.k.a Black-necked) Grebe. Small bird potentially in a bush, big birds almost certainly in a field. After a few seconds agonising, we went west.

The light was again ‘autumnal’ that is to say grey but the birds were there, 45 or so in one field and fairly close to the road. The cranes were a bit skittish and gradually made their way to the back of the field but we enjoyed good views of adults and their young, delving into the soft earth of the ex cornfield.

Our next stop was Alfred Sewage Lagoons. Oh how I (and many others) wish this was in Quebec. The place always has birds with many often tough to find species for Quebec.

This trip was to see the Eared Grebes that had been there for a few days and we saw four in all. Seeing them was pretty easy thanks to the tower erected outside the lagoons. If anyone from the Quebec authorities ever reads this: We parked in the FREE car park especially constructed for the viewing tower. We walked the path to the EXCELLENT viewing tower constructed for OBSERVING BIRDS. And we were able to enjoy the Ruddy ducks, Northern Harriers and assorted other wildlife without having to dodge skaters, dogs, push chairs, cyclists or any of the other many irritations that all Quebec sites seem to be designed for. It was a pleasure to be able to think that this was constructed for us, the birders. If we had this type of thing at all sewage works there would be no need to trespass.

Once back in Quebec we stopped off on the L’anse at Vaudreuil where 80+ Dunlin, 25 Black-bellied Plovers, 15 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 2 Ruddy Turnstones and a White-rumped Sandpiper awaited. I also had a not unusual experience there which hones the point made above.

I was watching the Dunlin and paying close attention to their moult, when a woman with child passed me. I was on the bank by the road clearly watching the birds (through a telescope!). She climbed down the bank on to the mud with the child and walked out to the birds, naturally scaring them away. I’m sure it was not done with malice, she was just displaying a tendency that many here seem to have and that is absolutely no awareness of anyone else and what they might be doing or whether their actions might impact on others.

If you think I am overplaying this, think of how many times you have had people flush birds that you have carefully stalked, or where you have been watching something only for the loud voices (and coats) to appear and march past you in blissful ignorance.

Anyway, reading this, all I seem to do is complain, it must be something to do with advancing age!

2007-10-13T12:35:00.001-04:00

Petering out

13 October 2007

After a pretty poor September it seems that the year list is petering out. Few additions can be expected and my revised, revised target is 270 although even that might be optimistic.

The third quarter report sees the list on 264 so basically static. The month failed to yield a Grey-cheeked Thrush (so far!) despite birding suitable locals. Admittedly I didn’t chase any, birds were present in downtown Montreal, I had rather expected to find my own.

For the record the garden list stands at 77 for the year and I have spent 179 bird days in the field. I won’t bother telling you the kilometerage but, on reflection, it is probably not that different from my usual birding kilometres travelled.

Since the last post we have not taken any longer trips although in September I spent more days (or, more accurately, part days) in the field than any other month. In September I covered the L’Anse at Vaudreuil almost daily seeing a total of 20 species of shorebird there. The season is winding down but, as I write, there are still 70+ Dunlin there.

Looking at the year as a whole I would say it has been pretty poor bird wise, perhaps the tone was set with the suppressed Green-tailed Towhee in Montreal which stuck until March in a garden of birder haters. Recently the trend has carried on with a suppressed Eared Grebe at a ‘private’ site, but not so private that a birder was able to photograph it though. I spent many years in the UK trying to make sure that all birders got the chance to see rarities; here they just keep a lot of birds quiet for very tenuous and certainly indefensible reasons. I think the grebe was at one of the water treatment plants, I bet none that saw it, and there would be a few, tried to get limited weekend access for the masses, which here would amount to only 50 or so.

Next month we go south to Ecuador so I hope to have the odd picture to post. Next year I will be concentrating on St-Lazare sand pits, if I can stand the numerous dogs (especially stupid, yapping sled dogs), ATVs, toy glider fliers anglers and the hut, hut, hut from the nearby sports field where ten year olds in body amour spend three hours confused. It’s called Football here, which is rather stupid, but I will not digress, this time.

Below a few shots, when I have had the time the light has either been blindingly bright or very dull, on the odd occasion the light was good the wind was so strong that the poor birdies needed legs like a steroid enhanced American athlete to hold on.

In pouring rain which is why it is rubbish.

A Rusty Blackbird, one of many at Parc Plaisance.

2007-09-16T19:20:00.000-04:00

Sabine’s probably the best gull in the World.

Last post to 16 September 2007

Since the Tadoussac trip things have slowed a fair bit. The L’Anse at Vaudreuil still produces a few shorebirds, six Pectoral Sandpipers on one visit, a Short-billed Dowitcher on another, incidentally my 18 species of shorebird there this autumn.

Warbler migration has been patchy, no obvious arrivals in bulk just a few relatively local species. One early winter arrival has been Dark-eyed Junco, they are in the garden, about six weeks earlier than any previous year since we have been here.

The weekend of 15-16 seemed set to follow the pattern with Saturday damp for most of the morning with the usual stiff breeze. A visit to Pointe Fortune failed to produce much, certainly no hoped for Sabine’s Gull and the back of what seems to have been an arrival in eastern Canada.

Sunday was better and an early morning watch at St-Lazare sand pits had Blue Jays, juncos and Rusty Blackbirds moving plus a few warblers, a bonus was a Barred Owl, new for my patch. Encouraged by this we went to the Lac St-Francois reserve at Dndee but, to be polite, it wasn’t very good. The Egret Trail was overgrown and tough to walk, perhaps one of the site employees could venture from their hut with a tractor or weed whacker sometime.

We toyed with going elsewhere but the day seemed shot. Once home I checked the soccer scores and email and poot, an immature Sabine’s Gull had been at Beauharnois barrage that very morning and we had been but 10km away at one point.

Twitching for us in Quebec has usually been fraught with disappointment but we went anyway. After ten minutes and having picked out a winter adult Little Gull the Sabs arrived. It fed at range but gave scope views and I also took a few shots of the water. If you look closely you can see an obscure blob with white triangles in the wings, that is the gull.

Sabine’s is my favourite gull, just pipping Ross’s to the title. This little beauty was Quebec tick 300 so extra special. The year list is at 263, I still need a mockingbird, Carolina Wren and Tufted Titmouse but I still have three months left to find them so all is not lost.

Below a few miscellaneous shots, no apologies for the record shots.

The record shot of the Sabine's Gull and the original below. Feel free to click on it, the image is still lousy though.

I'll put all of the really terrible photos at the front although, to be honest, they don't improve any. This is a flight shot of the Red-Necked Phalarope on the Chemin de l'Anse, the light was shocking.

Stilt Sandpiper from the l'Anse, probably up to six different birds so far.

Woodpecker heads, you don't need me to tell you which species is which.

I've not bothered captioning the last few photographs as they are not too hard to ID (well onemight be tricky) If you don't know what they are, get your book out, its good practice. Just a hint, the last one is not a warbler.

2007-09-03T07:17:00.001-04:00

Sunny Charlevoix, breezy Manicougan

25-29 August 2007

Hoping to catch up with a few species still absent from the year list, we took a five day break birding the Charlevoix-Manicougan area of the St-Lawrence river. Based in Tadoussac, the overpriced little tourist trap at the mouth of the Saguenay River, we ventured mostly north as far as Portneuf sur Mer, just short of Forestville.

Prime targets were Jaegers, any jaegers and also Red Knot, both Quebec ticks. Year birds also included a few of the shorebirds that have yet to grace Vaudreuil Bay and species like American Pipit and Orange-crowned Warbler which I just have not bumped into yet.

Our trip lists always start at dawn on the day of the trips so our garden birds were duly noted and, rather ironically, the first fall warblers had arrived. Five minutes on the front stoop produced two Blackburnian and single Black & White, Yellow-rumped and Magnolia Warblers. A Red-eyed Vireo gleaned the Birch trees and a family of Baltimore Orioles played chase around the garden.

Once underway we made various stops en-route to our first night location of St-Simeon. We checked out the l’Anse at Vaudreuil seeing the commoner shorebirds plus two Pectoral Sandpipers then Lac St-Pierre where five Ospreys, two American Golden Plovers and a nice flock of Black-bellied Plovers gave the trip list a good start.

We pressed on to St-Irenee, a good, back creaking distance to drive in an Echo, the trip only enlivened by a white stretch limo pulling out in front of us and crawling the last 20km or so to St-Irenee causing a 5km traffic tailback. The roads gave no chance to overtake and none of the ten cars between us and the limo seemed so inclined. We guessed that it was either yet another ancient Quebec driver with a car too big for them or, somebody had died and this was the funeral cortege. This has always confused me, why do they drive so slowly when you are dead. You don’t care too much, you are already surfing the astral plains (or scoping the astral wetlands, depends on your interests). The people attending would rather get the whole thing over with as soon as possible so they would appreciate a little more haste. The clergy would like to press on as it cuts into their communion wine and choirboy time, so let us all agree now, toe down, in the hole or up the chimney with the stiff, off to the bar, mine’s a pint.

The luxury that is Internet access is somewhat limited in some areas. Our first night motel had access and so we were very interested to note that a Tricoloured Heron had been seen at Tadoussac that day. Dense sea (well river) mist shrouded St-Simeon at dawn. A short sweep of the local shrubs produced a couple of Orange-crowned Warblers in with a few Nashvilles and Tennessees. A swift breakfast (that is a quick breakfast, we didn’t eat any swifts) and we were on the way to Tadoussac, a 30-minute drive or so. After ten kilometres the sun broke through, the shroud lifted and the day looked like it might be viable after all. Predictably the heron had gone, possibly to Trois-Riviere and the site of the oldest industrial building in Quebec, perhaps more of that later.

Our accommodation at Tadoussac was a chalet at the Domaine des Dunes, pre-booked, not cheap but nice and we could self cater. We took off for Les Escoumins to try for a Little Gull. When we arrived the sky was full of Bonaparte’s Gulls hawking insects, it took an hour and a half to find a Little Gull, just the one, although we were entertained by the Common Nighthawks that had joined in to show the gulls how to hawk properly.

Moving on to Longue Rive and a high tide so lots of shorebirds. An advantage here is that the shorebirds are pushed up to the road; a disadvantage is that the road houses thunderous trucks, roughly one every three minutes, it’s disconcerting. We soon picked out Red Knot from the mass, four birds picking busily away, they were my 299th Quebec bird and my 2,000,001st-4th Red Knot in the World! (approx). We dallied a while then birded along the shore ending up at some bridge thing with a path. Rocks at the river mouth had a few shorebirds, notably a Hudsonian Whimbrel and a few of each yellowlegs. Later a small group of Short-billed Dowitchers pitched in and I messed around taking a few photos.

Day three and we took a whale trip. I had birded the dunes at Tadoussac first thing seeing five Sharp-shinned Hawks in the first 20 seconds and not much else after. The whale trip was ok, not one of our best, we saw a few Minke's a few Fin Whales and the odd, distant Beluga. The wind was stiff and cold and there were very few seabirds except Black-legged Kittiwakes and Bonaparte’s Gulls. Later that day we did a trip to see Black Bears, see the previous posting.

Day four and off to Portneuf sur Mer. Nowhere in the Tadoussac area seemed to have room on their wireless Internet for us to look at the Quebec rare bird site so we had to wait until reaching an establishment of a popular hotel chain before we could log on. One day and fairly soon, wireless Internet will be free and everywhere. No reports were in for our area but the previously mentioned Trois-Riviere site had the Tricoloured, something we could try for on the way home.

We walked out at Portneuf along the spit. For UK birders its like walking to Blakeney Point, enough said. The sea (river but it is wider than the channel) held Gannets and flocks of Common Terns, all three scoters and passing Merlins seemed everywhere. The tide was rising so we decided to check out a picnic site just to the south where birds would gather, and we hoped to do another whale trip out of Portneuf as ‘thar be blues’ (translation.. there are Blue Whales off Portneuf) Unfortunately the constant gale remained constant so we contented ourselves with the shorebird roost and general mooching.

Day five was spent travelling back. Yes we tried at Trois-Riviere for the Tricoloured, no we didn’t see it, nor did anyone else as far as we know.

That was it, no jaegers but Red Knot and nine other year ticks making the list 262. The trip list came in at 115 and the month total 157.

Below a few photos of varying quality.

Despite the thoughtful `Beware of the birders`roadside warnings installed by the local council, trucks still thunder along the Longue Rive.

A couple of views of Semipalmated Plover

You are now wondering how you ever confused the two yellowlegs!

Hudsonian Whimbrel, a recent split by all who are sane.

This view shows one of the reasons for the split from Eurasian Whimbrel, the bird is in North America! Pity you can`t see the all dark rump properly.

Two Short-billed Dowitchers although you could easily mistake the bird in the foreground as a Long-billed, its not though.

Same bird.

By cunningly pretending to be a slightly plumper dowitcher I was able get the group to accept me as one of their own and take a few photos. Wide angle shot courtesty of Sandra Dennis.

A couple of record shots of Common Nighthawks, they were very fast (excuse for bad photos) and chose an area over Les Escoumins which contained the highest density of overhead wires found anywhere in Quebec.

A Merlin, having just devoured a dragonfly, in the fashion of a Hobby or Red-footed Falcon, never seen them do that before.

I like hummers so, if I photograph one, you are going to see it.

Red-eyed Vireo.

Shorebird fly past at Pointe-Boisvert, can you spot the Western Sandpiper.

Last but not least (every pun intended) a Baird`s Sandpiper, one of the 21 shorebird species seen on the trip.

2007-08-29T20:46:00.000-04:00

Finally a Bear or seven

29 August 2007

Just back from the Charlevoix where five days birding, whale watching and, finally, Black Bear watching made a welcome change from work.

The year list benefitted from several additions but more of the birds in a later post. A highlight was watching up to seven different Black Bears as they took advantage of a feeding site, our first wild Black Bears ever.

Below a few photos. The bears were about 120m away in the evening light so the shots are not pin sharp. The site is a cottage industry showing tourists the bears and funding a cub rescue system from the takings. The bears are totally wild and their trust is gained over a period of time.

2007-08-23T19:32:00.000-04:00

Blimey, a Buff-breast.

23 August 2007

After yesterday's success with a nice trio of shorebirds off the Chemin de L'Anse at Vaudreuil, tonights return visit topped it with a splendid Buff-breasted Sandpiper and an interesting peep.

Viewing was limited to a very short time, mainly because the Police moved me on for interesting parking, but also because the heavens opened with a vengance

Below some pretty awful record shots. Any comments on the other shorebird would be welcome. My experience of the long billed race of Semipalmated Sandpiper is limited and the bird gave me the impression of it being a Western Sandpiper

2007-08-22T20:45:00.001-04:00

250 and counting

22 August 2007

Now that my favourite shorebird spot is in prime condition, it is getting almost daily attention from me. Despite kids, dogs and other assorted disturbers of birds, they are building nicely and today provided me with three species for the year, making 250 in total.

Things looked a little quiet at first although Semipalmated Plovers were new in and a raft of 25 Blue-winged Teals were also good to see. Eventually I caught up with the feeding mob and amongst them was an immature Red-necked Phalarope. The birds were pretty skittish but I managed to count 75+ Least and 30+ Semiplamated Sandpipers. Mixed in the throng was at least one Baird's Sandpiper and a White-rumped. The regulars were well represented with 45 Lesser and five Greater Yellowlegs and, of course, the ubiquitus Killdeer.

The light was poor and I only managed to get a distant record shot of the phal but it was a welcome bird and I hope it stcks for a while for others to enjoy.

2007-08-18T18:56:00.000-04:00

Just how close can you get to a Least Bittern

Or, more accurately, how close will they get to you!

18 August 2007.

After an early morning spin around St-Lazare sand pits, with but few common shorebirds to show for it, we decided to pay L’Ile Bizzard a visit.

For those not in the know, L’Ile Bizzard is an island off the north-west of Montreal. It has a rather pretentious golf course, gothic looking posh houses with plastic owls on the roof and one of the better, and just as important, accessible parks with birds in the area.

The site has woods, lakeshore, marsh and grasslands and holds a host of scarce breeding species. Naturally all of this makes it perfect to form part of the proposed link route between the TransCanadian (highway 40) in Montreal and the north, thereby allowing those who choose to live and commute into Montreal from the towns of the north even more choice of traffic chaos than presently available. Strangely no proposal has been made for running the new road through the golf course, with a concession allowing the fee paying members to claim a free drop if they inadvertently place a drive onto the new asphalt.

Before I continue just a general comment here.

Many people in Quebec occupy three times the space they need. They have a house in or around the city, fair enough, everyone needs somewhere to live. They then buy a chunk of forest anything from 2-400 km north of Montreal for a summer cabin and then they get on their ATVs in summer and Skidoos in winter and go 3-400 km further north still for camping sauvage. Their little summer cabins need services and so up springs a town, populated by people who buy land to the north of the town to build a cabin, they then get on their seasonal vehicle and leave their, to use a modern eco phrase, ‘footprint’ further north still. I don’t blame them, it’s a great lifestyle, but it really will push the species that don’t tolerate disturbance to the limit and possibly eventual extinction, birds and animals alike. Eventually the northward push will meet the Native Americans coming the other way as greater mobility allows them to exercise their rights to slaughter wildlife as they wish just because they can.

Further south we are not blameless, oh no, even if we only own one property. Development without a plan seems to be the norm, and I don’t mean a plan designed to make a city bigger to generate more income to make the city bigger etc. I mean without a plan that is considers the ecology of the area. Where I live in the west they are knocking holes in the woods wholesale (and yes, I live in one of those holes, albeit one made 20 years ago) with no thought for the impact on every aspect of the area. Everywhere has a limit to how many people is resources will support, as we will shortly find out.

I live on a hill; I’ve always tried to live on a hill. Down the road hundreds of new houses are being built on the floodplain and are replacing the phragmites that grew there because the habitat is right i.e. wet. When, one day, high spring tides meet a deluge of the sort enjoyed by much of the rest of the World this year, verily the good people of Vaudreuil will be able to commute by canoe, enough already.

Back to the birds (thank God you cry), so, we went to L’Ile Bizzard and had a jolly fine but relatively birdless wander around culminating in views of Least Bitterns (plural) down to a few feet. They seemed to be everywhere (well six or seven birds minimum) and one, which might be a female but could be a worn male, fed unconcerned as the bikers and hikers filed past. At one point, when the camera had been briefly sheathed, it even got on the boardwalk for a stroll, before flying back to the growing young noisily calling from a nearby reedy clump.

Naturally I snapped a few and the results are below. Enjoy the photos and sorry about the rant, possibly.

PS. Any Montreal birders reading (obviously not those in their cabins, oops, there I go again) might like to know that the Chemin De L’Anse at Vaudreuil is good for shorebirds now, I had 50+ Least Sandpipers there, along with the usual commoner species last Friday.

Something like the normal view of a Least Bittern, click to enlarge.

Intense concentration.

The things we do for fish.

2007-08-17T19:27:00.001-04:00

Boreal Boost

Last post to 16 August 2007

We finally found a Boreal Chickadee, hurrah huraah. After two trips to Tremblant, arriving as early as possible, we decided on a different strategy for another bash at one, we got there at midday. The park was pretty busy, especially with the hopefully terminally stupid types who seem to think whooping and screaming around the waterways in a canoe is enjoyed by others, the best we can hope for though is infertility.

Back to the birds, or rather relative lack of them. The Boreal Chickadees gave them selves up 50m along our first trail and were, typically, the peak of our visit. We saw a few Spotted Sandpipers and the usual Ruffed Grouse aka Crazy Chickens, but that was about it.

Closer to home and some encouraging shorebird habitat is developing along the Chemin De L’Anse at Vaudreuil. So far just the usual suspects are on show, Killdeers, both yellowlegs, Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers, small flocks of Least Sandpipers and a few Semipalmated Sandpipers, and, as the autumn wears on, the shorebirds will multiply. Other nice arrivals there are Caspian Terns, often around in late summer, and Blue-winged Teals, still showing vestiges of their summer plumage, mixed in with the usual eclipse grot typical of all ducks.

Just a final note, odd migrants have started to show in the garden, the first autumn warblers were two Pine Warblers, also Chimney Swift and Least Flycatcher were added to the garden year list, the latter being a garden tick.

Below a few shots, nothing wow but I like them.

Nice, reliable Cedar Waxwings will always pose.

My favourite Crazy Chicken.

Spottys in habitat.

2007-08-07T19:08:00.000-04:00

Tree Frog treat

7 August 2007

I know that this is supposed to be a birding blog, and that the very astute amongst you will spot immediately that subject of the photos below is not a bird, however, its my blog ad I can post what I like, and do.

I did a little post work wander around one of my often productive little spots, warbler time is now onwards and I have had quite some success on this 300m long unbuilt road which cuts into Saddlebrook Bog. Not many birds around, a few familiar dragonflies though and then a little movement caught my eye, it was a Grey Tree Frog.

I must have visited this spot a couple of hundred times in the past four years and it never fails to amaze me how often it produces something of interest.

The Grey Tree Frog Hyla versicolor is tiny, perhaps just over 2cm long and changes colour to suit its background, that is why this one is not grey. It clambered very sedately around the herbage, only putting on a spurt when I tried to garden for a better shot.

So below the best shots I managed, I really should take the snappy digital with the macro feature next time.

2007-08-04T14:04:00.001-04:00

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

2007-07-30T18:37:00.001-04:00

August beckons, thankfully.

Last post to 29 July 2007

With the less than exciting July (in terms of avian delights) now behind us its time to look forwards to the steady movement south of some of the species that eluded me in spring.

I seem to have many gaps on the year list that I had expected to have filled by now, particularly amongst the shorebirds. I’m hoping that water levels on the Lake of Two Mountains (well, hillocks really) and that my shorebird site starts to produce. The water levels at St-Lazare sand pits seem very unlikely to drop although another pit to the west of the main area has promise, provided I can get there before others disturb the birds.

I’m intending to get along the Charlevoix and Manicougan sections of the St-Lawrence, not just in the hope of a jaeger but also to see a few Whales perhaps. From mid September the observatory at Tadoussac just might give me Boreal Owl and American Three-toed Woodpecker and I hope to finally crack a Purple Sandpiper.

Since the last posting here I’ve not done a great deal other than enjoy the local birds and make inroads into the local dragonfly and butterfly populations in terms of identification and familiarization. This means I have taken very few photos of late, other than insects, so not much to browse below, in fact, if you know any blogs that offer views of paint drying I’d go and check them out now.

Finally there is a typically vague report of a Red-headed Woodpecker on the Coteau du Lac Golf Course. Looks like I’ll have to dust off my clubs and play my first round of Canadian Golf while taking a more than passing interest in the tree obstacles on course.

A couple of views of a Great Blue Heron flying, but then you knew that already eh!

Cedar Waxwing family groups have been conspicuous, taking time from gorging on berries to gorge on flies.

And now, as meagre compensation for the lack of pretty birds to look at, here is a just for fun photo quiz. What are the species shown?

Photo #1 Location: Thailand.

Photo #2 Location: Mediterranean.

Photo #3 Location: Central America.

Photo #4 Location: North-east Africa.

Photo#5 Location: Middle East.

2007-07-14T16:51:00.001-04:00

Past the cusp

26-June to 14-July 2007

Now that we have slipped past the longest day, the half way point in the year list, the steady run in to winter is upon us! Seriously though, the breeding season is at its zenith and shorebirds are appearing at various Montréal sites. Before long the trees will buzz with southward bound passerines, stocking up for a journey that many will not complete.

I always thought that July would be on the slow side and so it has proved, however, one bright period was a recent trip to Lac St-Jean and then along the north shore south from Tadoussac. It was a trip of 2700km but included one long sought after lifer and one species I really should have seen in Quebec before now.

With some pretty good directions via Ornitho-Quebec we set off towards Lac St-Jean for another crack at Connecticut Warbler. Other possibilities were Le Conte’s Sparrow and Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow, especially as the former was present at Métabetchouan in what sounded like an easy location. Generally the skulking grassland sparrows are never easy but other observers had recommended being on-site at dawn to avoid the road noise masking the Le Conte’s song and it seemed that we might stand a chance.

We arrived at Roberval late in the afternoon and spent most of the rest of the day not seeing any of the Northern Mockingbirds reported for the area. We dropped down to Metabetchouan to check out the field just in time to see the farmer finish his final cut!

Up reasonably early the next day we arrived at Normandin in good time and followed the directions. Perhaps an indicator of the day was a male Spruce Grouse which flew up beside the car, the wing blatter enhanced by the open windows and the fact it was about three feet away when it burst forth. Next we found the unmarked turn onto Chemin Murdock, essentially a sandy track through the forest. As we progressed we passed another birder who told us that the “paruline et ici” and sure enough there it was singing away.

The bird sang repeatedly for five to ten minutes in bursts then took a short break before resuming. It sounded very close, perhaps 15m into the mixed forest. The visibility was reasonable so we worked every branch from the road and totally failed to see anything. At times it seemed to have moved off into the denser depths, then it would seem to be within touching distance, it was very frustrating. A large pine about 15m into the forest was obscuring the view so I ventured in and used it as cover. It gave a much better view of a stand of birch so I just kept scanning. Eventually I picked out a shape in a Birch with the naked eye and there it was, a singing male Connecticut Warbler. I enjoyed it for a while, made a mental note of the exact location in relation to the road and then went back to try to scope it. The bird was at least 75m further away than I had initially thought and try as I might, I just could not get it in the scope. We decided against going back in, the time was getting on and the bird singing less. It had been the ideal observation of a tricky species, located by stealth, undisturbed but thoroughly enjoyed.

Next we decided to drive to Tadoussac via Métabetchouan and Saint-Fulgence. It was late in the day and the strong winds would carry any unlikely song off down the Saguenay and so it proved. The Saguenay was remarkably birdless, vast areas of river sand banks and muddy edges absolutely devoid of birds.

Tadoussac appeared to be entirely populated by people with nose rings and tattoos so we pushed off to St-Simeon, birding along the way. The next day we pushed on, pausing at Malbaie for breakfast and to ensure that, as usual, none of Québec’s rarer gulls were present. Our destination was Baie St-Paul and Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow habitat, surely they don’t mow that! To cut this post short, the sparrows were there but very hard to see. At least three sang, one was seen fairly well and another glimpsed a couple of times. Satisfied we went home thankfully not slowed down by any Canada Day (for it was that day) celebrations in Québec City.

Since then I’ve been out a few times adding just Caspian Tern to the year list which is now at 244. By late July some of the shorebirds I’ve not seen yet should be trickling through, meanwhile I’ll just enjoy the insects, photos of which will appear on the relevant blogs as per the links (eventually).
Obviously none of the skulky species featured here were photographed so below are just a few of the random images from the period.

Spotted Sandpiper looking very spotty.

Male American Wigeon, well its head at least.

Male Green-winged Teal just about to undergo a body moult.

Not birds, just mummy and bebé Woodchuck.

White-breasted Nuthatch, they seem to be much commoner this year.

Common Tern, told you I didn't have many bird photos!

2007-06-26T19:42:00.001-04:00

Stuck in a rut

Last post to 26-6-7

In typical late June fashion the ticks have dried up and the breeders are busy so harder to find. I’ve been out a few times trying to plug the obvious gaps in the year list but to no avail, I’m rather hopeful that I’ll be adding Connecticut Warbler shortly but I never count my chickens (or warblers) before they have hatched.

We did try for a Northern Mockingbird with only the 10km road as the location and a photo of it sitting on a fence that should have been identifiable, it wasn’t! It was a nice place to visit though and my butterfly pages, if I’ve done them yet, will show European (Small) skippers in phenomenal numbers. It is no exaggeration to say that, in 100m of road, I saw more Small Skippers than the cumulative total that I have seen before in my life.

Also true to form for this period of the year, my attention has switched to insects, namely dragonflies and butterflies. Many people here have little interest in them but, generally, they are the same ones who can’t identify gulls or peeps so its no good trying to engage their inquisitive nature where none exists. With that in mind I’ve deferred from decorating the pages of this blog with images of the aforementioned insects although I have slipped a Snowshoe Hare in which we saw at Tremblant last time up there and I forgot to include in the last posting.
Anyway, the garden is full of young birds with the Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers fighting both species of nuthatch (that is Red-breasted and white-breasted for you Europeans) for feeder space and the ubiquitous Common Grackles often join in the fun.

Upland Sandpiper, one of my regulars which is not quite in Quebec but certainly could see it from God's own province.

Eastern Bluebird, a bit distant but the get the idea.

Bobolink objecting to me using the road. They seem very common this year.

Brown Thrasher. Chop its bill in half, shorten the tail and give it an olive wash and it would be a Song Thrush, how close many of these birds are to each other, well, with a little imagination they are.

Indigo Bunting, another common bird this year.

One of the immature Hairy Woodpeckers from the garden.

Red-breasted Nuthatch, giving the garden constant noise.

One of the local Spotted Sandpipers pretending to be an extension of a rock.

Big Foot the Snowshoe Hare, just look at those tootsies!

2007-06-12T18:00:00.000-04:00

Ruffed Grouse 7-Spruce Grouse 0

9-10 June 2007

Saturday 9th was spent south of Huntingdon adding Clay-colored Sparrow and Ring-necked Pheasant to the year list. Frustratingly we drove past a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, or at least the group who ha been watching it, and we couldn’t find the grasshopper Sparrows although I was unsure of the site. It wasn’t a bad day, over 100 species again, but looking for a bird in somebody’s garden still feels like intruding. As it happened, the owners of the property were doing some gardening so I plunged in with my usual “parle tu Anglais”?, fortunately a little was spoken and, with the aid of my French version of Sibley, I conveyed the reason for my peering into their conifers. They were quite happy about it, even interested, so perhaps the sparrow/s now have a couple of guardians for the duration.

Sunday was Tremblant revisited.

The previous week a friend had chanced a Spruce Grouse scudding across the track and also managed a Boreal Chickadee, so we set forth with renewed optimism. The healthy Blackfly population kept most from venturing into the heart of the park so we cruised undisturbed the rough road to our first stop. We walked the trail, stopped and listened but had nothing much to show for it. A Rusty Blackbird was still in territory, probably a breeding pair. The usual boreal warblers were also occasionally vocal.

It was shaping up to be a hot day weather wise, but the birds were a bit scarce so we made do with a surfeit of Canadian Tiger Swallowtails, the odd one of which may still be stuck to the car’s front grill.

Our next stop was Lac Tador, or at least the trail to it. Eventually the “quick three beers” (yeh right, that’s just what is sounds like) was heard and the primary reason for entertaining the flies was found, Olive-sided Flycatcher. Below is a record shot from some distance, they are, fortunately, distinctive enough. Moving on we visited a short trail to a stagger-in camp site which has always been good (well once) for Boreal Chickadee. Unfortunately they did not know that but a couple of inquisitive Grey Jays fluttered around us. At this point the camera refused to take a photo until I reset it so I missed the chance. The second best photos are below, we also saw a Black-backed Woodpecker here.

We did a fair bit more exploring, using quieter tracks and trails, but the Spruce Grouse and chickadees just never appeared. The Ruffed Grouse were oblivious to us at times and we saw seven in total including the one below. The question is why do they cross the road even when you are creeping up on them in a two ton van! There are two answers here. They are either very stupid or very confident of their camouflage, I favour the latter.

We have a couple of trips planned in the next few weeks but summer is hoving into view and the likelihood is that birding opportunities will be few. I’ll be out anyway but expect fewer birds and more Butterflies and Dragonflies on these pages.

Following the weekend’s additions the year list is now 239. I have a potential 17 shorebird species still to find though and many fairly common autumn migrants to look for. If you have a good Quebec site for Sharp-tailed Grouse and are willing to share, please leave me a message, otherwise its Barraute at dawn. Thanks.

A view of the underparts of the North American race of Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica erythrogaster.

Pine Siskin, lots about at Tremblant.

The aforementioned Grey Jays.

A couple of views of Parc Mont-Tremblant.

A Ruby-throated Hummingbird atop a twenty five foot sappling, aren't digital cameras wonderful.

2007-06-07T22:14:00.000-04:00

Nice surprise

7 June 2007

While out looking for Grasshopper and Clay-colored Sparrows this evening I came across a Loggerhead shrike, something of a rarity now in Quebec.

I managed a poor record shot but it was worth trying, it is a Quebec tick and only the third this year so far. As the species is sensitive in this province I'll not publish the specific location although I think it was just a lucky sighting of a late spring overshoot.

2007-06-03T11:06:00.001-04:00

The last day of May

May 31st – June 2nd 2007.

With May running out I took the opportunity of another day off work to bird the Huntingdon/Dundee area of Quebec in the hope of one or two of its specialties.

Logging on to the bird news first thing is a habit and a fine picture of not one but two Wilson’s Phalaropes at Baie du Febvre almost made me change my plans and make the drive, however, my appetite for driving versus birding was on the wane and so I stuck with my original plan with just a few variances. I had intended to bird the Huntingdon area first, then move down to Dundee but the prospect of St-Timothee Marsh, almost on the way, tempted me there first. It turned out to be a good choice with Willow Flycatcher, Marsh Wren, Sora and a very showy Least Bittern added to the year list. Bolstered by success I went on to Maple Grove but no Caspian Terns were evident. Two big lumps out on dead trees in the minch turned out to be two Bald Eagles, not new for the year but a May tick.

Here I almost quavered and postulated the Baie de Febvre option again, instead I went to Ste-Martine which was predictably quiet except for a small flock of Chimney Swifts, I like swifts. I moved on and washed up on Carr Front, a small gravel track south of Huntingdon. Field Sparrows sang their bouncy song, largely from cover but a few distant birds showed. I tried several spots along the track trying to pick out the subtle warbler songs despite clatter of Ovenbirds. At the third stop a warbler crossed the track and perched up, it was my prime target, a male Golden-winged Warbler with no wing bars or funny plumage to suggest a family predilection for exotic liaisons with its blue-winged relatives. Further on a stop produced another Golden-winged Warbler, a singer but I couldn’t locate it, nearby a wheeze of towhees were nest building.

Usually such success signals the end of the day’s productive birding so I repaired to the IGA (a grocery shop) to stock up for lunch. I then opted to go east and bird the fly haven that is the Gowan Road. This road offers excellent birding but the flies made very audible noises as they bounced off the car. All of the tracks that branch off the gravel road have Privee declared in bold and, as many of the inhabitants of these parts are Good Old Boys, its probably best to stick to the main track although, to be fair, I could not hear any dueling banjos anywhere.

As it happened I did not need to venture off track and found a singing Yellow-throated Vireo about 300m after the creek going east for those who know it. The woods were alive with flycatchers who will never go hungry here. I relied on deet to keep me sane if fragrant and came away with Scarlet Tanager and Eastern Wood-Peewee added to the year list in addition to the vireo.

My last real target required a short hop over to the Lac St-Francois reserve at Dundee although my knowledge of both the species and its preferred habitat were sketchy. On arrival at the Ch de la Pointe-Fraser I noted a car of birders scanning a damp field. Ambling back from the reserve car park I was very grateful that one of them spoke excellent English although I had spent a good 15 minutes rehearsing a French phrase asking whether they were looking for Sedge Wren. They were and we heard three singing. I saw one fly briefly but wanted more so I went back for the scope as they left and scanned and waited. Eventually one came up into a small shrub and sang its heart out.

The wren was year list addition number nine and the end of an excellent days birding with 109 species seen and taking the May list to 190.

Saturday June 2nd was spent looking for the local Grasshopper Sparrows without luck, either they are not back yet or have been scared off by the recent loud horse thing in the next field. As an afterthought I dropped into St-Lazare sand pits and was greeted by a patch tick, two Red-necked Grebes.
Below are a few shots to enjoy. Despite there being many birds around, not too many wanted their picture taking this week.

Suddenly Red-eyed Vireos are everywhere.

Any patch of scrub seems to have a Brown Thrasher belting out its song, we even had one in the garden recently.

Just a picture of an American Robin.

One off the offspring of my local Red-shouldered Hawks after a damp morning.

A Killdeer living up to it's scientific name, look it up, you'll understand my meaning then.

Record shots of the Red-necked Grebes from St-Lazare sand pits. The water is very high there and they could stay, I'll keep an eye on them if they do.

A couple of shots of Red Foxes. There were four in a field near Dundee. I'm not sure what the one in the first shot is watching but the second shot is a fine example of synchronised scratching. Oh and not as single rich person in a red coat trying to chase them.

2007-05-28T21:26:00.001-04:00

Malbaie on a whim!

26-27 May 2007

Having firmly decided not to go east looking for Purple Sandpipers again until late autumn we were in Malbaie by late afternoon Saturday! The river east of Quebec City is a real enigma. Acres of shorebird habitat but barely a shorebird, still there were gulls to enjoy so enjoy we did (I may be putting words in Sandra’s mouth here).

On the way we popped into a cracking little marsh at Neauville, a really nice site and well worth a visit if passing. Neuville, or more correctly called the Marais de Leon Provencher, had a nice selection of duck all at fairly close range, some of which were trailing ducklings

Our first birding stop en-route was at St-Barthelemy, located a short distance before Trois Riviere its always worth a spring visit. A few Snow Geese loafed on a drying field but closed inspection revealed 200+ Semipalmated Plovers and a couple Dunlin. Further down the track an area with more water had Black-crowned Night-heron and a couple of Black Terns.

Once past Quebec City and its exciting interpretation of highway etiquette, we pressed onto our first stop, St-Irenee. Hopeful of finding some of the scarcer species seen in the area, we struggled rather although it was fun sifting through the gulls and watching a close male Surf Scoter.

We went on to Point-au-Pic and then Malbaie but the tide was dropping and many of the birds were out on sand bars. A brief and distant jaeger never reappeared, it was probably a parasitic but not really seen well enough to clinch.

The next day I was out around 4.45 and scanning. It was a fine day and the next three hours produced a single White-winged Scoter, more Surf Scoters, lots of Black Guillemots and small numbers of Razorbills and even some shorebirds, two Short-billed Dowitchers.

When repeated scans failed to produce anything but the commoner gulls we decided to go to Cap Toumente via St-Irenee. It proved to be a good choice with 9+ Red-throated Loons out in the bay where there had been none previously. I also located two Lesser Black-backed Gulls, one adult and a 3CY bird., the adult appeared to be of the race intermedius, towards the darker end of the scale.

We moved on to Cap Tourmente and spent a very enjoyable couple of hours watching Wilson’s Warblers, Blackpoll Warblers and a few Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, not to mention more Snow Geese getting all muddy on the river bank Also worth watching was the two American Bitterns doing aerial display flights for ten minutes, don’t they know the meaning of skulking.

Cap Tourmente is a premier birding site in Quebec so it is a little puzzling why it does not open until 08.30, I wonder what time the hunters are allowed in during the season! Slight irritations are the thoughtless non-birders who lack volume switches and march past between you and the Wilson’s Warbler you have been waiting for a clear shot at for twenty minutes.

Below a few pictures, the year list is 224, I’m optimistic for a few more in the next three weeks.

Eastern Kingbird, best photographed in dull light.

Female Bay-breasted Warbler

Not a bird! I disturbed this digging Skunk and, not knowing their squirting capabilities, took a photo and left.

The Black Guillemots look great in their summer suits.

Some shots of Cap Tourmente's
Wilson's Warblers.

Blackpoll Warblers are very smart in spring.

Fun with hummingbirds. Cap Tourmente's birds hurtle in and out to the feeders regardless of your presence.

2007-05-22T21:19:00.000-04:00

A week too early?

21-May 2007

Monday was a National holiday in Canada (and that does still include Quebec) so we took advantage and went north to the excellent and vast park at Mont Tremblant. We concentrated on the secteur Diable especially north of Lac Monroe, our targets were Olive-sided Flycatcher, Boreal Chickadee and Spruce Grouse. In true keeping with our recent luck, we failed to see all three, although it is likely that the flycatchers are not all back yet. We’ll go again in a couple of weeks, I’ll start stocking up on the bug spray now as, although this trip was totally bug free, its only a matter of time.

Despite the dipping we had a very enjoyable day, starting with almost tripping over a Swainson’s Thrush while buying the permits to being entranced by a very brief view of a Wolf crossing our path. We also always hope for a Black Bear when visiting these places but so far no luck.

We did see some birds, chief amongst them being a fleeting view of a Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher, a Quebec tick for me but away too quickly for Sandra to get a view. One nice little sun trap had a few warblers enjoying the warmth, each taking turns to have a little sing-song. Several Winter Wrens sang but only one showed. On the way north we paused above Carillon Dam and found a couple of Brents loafing on an island, our first of three year ticks for the day.

The next three to four weeks will now be very busy with a trip to Abitibi looming to search for another trio, Connecticut Warbler, Sharp-tailed Grouse and Le Conte’s Sparrow. The first two are lifers and we have dipped them before, surely our luck is due a change!

For the record the year list is now 215, the garden year list 61 and the overall year list 292 (after a short trip to the UK, see earlier post).

Two Brents, spot the second eh.

Wilson's Snipe, we often see this bird on its favourite post.

White-winged Crossbills. They were feeding under bushes in the car park for Lac Monroe.

A few warblers starting with Black-throated Green.

Then Black-throated Blue.

A couple of views of Magnolia Warbler, very common at Tremblant.

A nice Bay-breasted in slightly adverse light.

Its the wrong grouse Grommit! A Ruffed doing its chicken crossing the road impression.

We ended our trip with a bouncy Veery that just would not face the camera.

2007-05-20T19:21:00.001-04:00

Big Sit, little dip

19-20 May 2007

Hoping to take advantage of three whole days off work I had planned to take in a rarity in Quebec City (Summer Tanager) on the 19th, then visit Gatineau on the 20th and finally Tremblant on the 21st. Unfortunately our only real source of bird information in Quebec also chose to take a break so, without up to date gen, we were not going to drive over to Quebec City on the off chance. Instead we went to the Richeleau Valley, heavily bedecked with shorebirds on 18-5, sadly bereft on 19-5, there is the little dip.

Fortunately, as far as some bird news is concerned, there is also Ornitho-Quebec, a newsgroup where people post their bird sightings and which I can usually work out despite my poor French. One posting was most promising, lots of good birds on I’le St-Bernard which is an hour and a half nearer to us than Gatineau and a pretty pleasant place to wander, off we went. We were pretty surprised to arrive and find that it was shut!

I’m not sure why it is shut, its a parks Quebec site and I know I’ve visited before although I suspect it was a bit later in the year. Perhaps they could reconsider their opening policy, especially as it seems to be so good for migration. Either way, we didn’t get in there and so ended up birding a cycle track until a very ugly girl with a loud bongo made us think twice about staying. When one of her equally ugly friends started to sing, that was enough to speed our departure.

Now the Big Sit bit.

Each year there is a Big Sit day whereby you choose somewhere to bird (hopefully bongo free) and remain there for one hour, recording everything that you see or hear. You are restricted to a twelve foot square and, despite the event’s name, are allowed to stand. I chose my local patch, St-Lazare sand pits, and settled into my watch point at 7.00 on Saturday 19th May. The ensuing hour was very entertaining and even added three species to my year list total.

I won’t print the full list but will say it was great fun counting 47 species and that includes not seeing the almost omnipresent Canada Geese, a Mourning Dove or Belted Kingfisher. Nor did the singing Purple Finch I passed on my way to the watch point make it onto the list and the frustrating Northern Rough-winged Swallows merrily hawking high to the east stayed steadfastly out of ID range.
So, a good Big Sit followed by some pretty indifferent birding luck. The year list is 211, Tremblant next, wish me luck.

Pine Warbler, they make even Tennessee Warblers seem bright.

A lousy shot of a Red-shouldered Hawk but, it does shot the characteristic pale crescents at the base of the primaries.

Yellow Warblers, they are everywhere at the moment

Yet another Myrtle Warbler.

A Chipping Sparrow without seed in its bill.

Two White-crowned Sparrows remain in the garden. They are now so fat that they will have to hitch or walk north!

2007-05-16T14:19:00.000-04:00

Local action

14-15-May 2007

The migrant tide is in full flow and our local area has started to produce. Rain overnight on May 14th produced a garden tree full of warblers in the morning. Work briefly intervened before an evening walk allowed further list additions. In between there were trips out and about but I’ll deal with them in other posts. For the record, my 15th May sightings all within 400m of my home were:
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Parula
Bay-breasted Warbler
Black & White Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Pine Warbler
American Redstart (stupid name by the way!)
Swainson’s Thrush
Veery
Ovenbird
Plus kinglets, sparrows and flycatchers.

A few days prior to that a Northern Waterthrush whacked out its song from the undergrowth (bad picture below) but didn’t quite venture over the road into the garden proper. By the end of May 15th the year list had risen to 204 with Blackburnian Warbler being the 200th species. I wonder whether there will be a 300th.

Stop press, Sandhill Crane added on 16th May, a very wet day.

Below a few shots for your amusement.

Not the easiest thing to snap in the dense cover of our local swamp, a Northern Waterthrush.

The Garden now has five White-crowned Sparrows in it.

Ovenbirds make a lot of noise for a little bird but when they are singing it is possible to creep up on them as making all of that noise requires their concentration.

Least Flycatcher, named by the school of zero imagination. I wonder why it was never called Tchebec, after all we have Peewee and Phoebe as phonetic names for that pair.

2007-05-16T14:02:00.000-04:00

Oh God not Baie du Febvre again!

Sunday 13th May 2007

We tried again for the Orchard Oriole, saw more warblers and a Swainson’s Thrush but no oriole, however, another birder told us that a White-eyed Vireo at a place called Maison de Marais at St-Ann-de-Sorrel had stuck two days so we thought we would give it a go. To be fair the news and directions had been on the rare birds web site but I had no idea where this maison was and didn’t really want to be peering around someone’s house looking for a bird.

We found the place OK and it turns out to be a Nature Reserve, one we had never heard off. Needless to say the vireo joined the oriole in the absent bin but we had a look around anyway, it’s a nice place, we saw a few birds and its somewhere we will visit again. The only problem was, now we were this close to Baie du Febvre how could we not go and not see a Wilson’s Phalarope. They are supposed to breed there but we have been several times but no seen one.

Baie du Febvre is a good birding place but it is always windy. It has tons of birds, especially Snow Geese. They even have some sort of festival where they presumably celebrate their wild beauty then shoot them, such is the logic of bird preserves in Quebec.

Sure enough, when we arrived it was blowing a gale from which there is no shelter. They have a curious idea of hides on this continent, generally they are designed to be ignored as they are too uncomfortable to sit in. At Baie du Febvre they have a big viewing hide with angled slots presumably built for people with one leg shorter than the other.

From the slats I was delighted to see a fine summer plumage American Golden Plover, four Grey Plovers although Black-bellied is a better name, and many Least Sandpipers and Semipalmated Plovers. On the square tanks flocks of Black Terns joined the 1500+ hirundines hawking insects. A little further on and each tree on the bank had a Yellow-rumped Warbler clinging on, out on the fields 3-400 Snow Geese were keeping their heads down until some dimwit wandered out to them.

So a mixed trip with a few year ticks and a few photographic opportunities, as seen below.

Warbling Vireo, some call it Eastern, its in the east so I suppost that is apt.

Yellow Warbler. Common everywhere. You can actually buy little models of some of the North American birds, Yellow Warbler included. Movement triggers their song so everywhere you go you can hear the pleasant little ditty that is their song, drives you nuts after a while though.

A record shot of the Baie du Febvre American Golden Plover.

One of several hundred Black Terns at Baie du Febvre. The others were all very similar in appearance so I didn't bother to photograph them.

Baie du Febvre is famous for its Snow Geese. I don't know how many recipes they actually have but it is probably impressive.

Least Sandpiper though anywhere else it would be called a stint, Least Stint, why not?

Male Ring-necked Duck, you can almost see the ring.

Redhead of known origin. Apologies to North American readers, its a Notts in-joke.

A male Ruddy Duck at an undisclosed location, the reason being some idiot in Europe just might jump on plane and come and shoot it just in case it glances at a White-headed Duck with love in its eyes.

Tree Swallows hoping for a gnat.

2007-05-16T13:49:00.000-04:00

Nice place, shame about the directions.

Saturday 12th May 2007

The weather persons promised rain but, as they are only ever about 3% right, we were not surprised that the rain held off. The result of this was a rather barren Summit Park in downtown Montreal. There were some compensations but only in units of one. We saw a single Cape May Warbler, likewise Black & White, Northern Parula, Nashville and Black-throated Blue. With the park occupying us les than we thought it would we set off across town to the I’le de la Visitation. We had never been there before and found it to be a truly delightful site. It obviously makes a great local patch and we had a good afternoon hunting around for migrants. The primary focus of our visit was Orchard Oriole, a Quebec rarity and a good addition to the year list, if we had found it. As usual there were no directions and we didn’t see it but we did enjoy watching the warblers, especially a quick fire male Canada Warbler just feet away.

The oriole was seen by others that day so we went back the next day, see the next post for details, meanwhile here are a few photographs from the day, some are just record shots.

Cape May Warbler high in a tree.

Black & White Warbler scampering around Summit Park.

The light was awful but this Black-throated Blue Warbler does its best to brighten the day.

Magnolia Warbler almost in focus.

Yellow-rumped Warbler. Please change its name back to Myrtle, in fact, I think we will, so, Myrtle Warbler, very common at the moment.

A Black-throated Green Warbler showing its black throat but none of its green.

A Great Crested Flycatcher. For those who don't know they are about the same size as a Redwing and yes, the flies are that big.

2007-05-08T21:43:00.000-04:00

A Ruff weekend

5-6 May 2007

Following the discovery of a Ruff on the floods at St-Blaise, a return visit after last weekend’s dip was in order. I just realized that North American readers might not be familiar with the term ‘dip’ or ‘twitch’ or any of the other UK birder terms so:

Dip = to miss the bird you are twitching i.e. the bird you are looking for by making a purposeful trip. You can also ‘string’, which is a claim of a bird seen which is either not true or a self-delusion (either way not good). You can also ‘grip’ which is to tell others of a bird well seen but missed by them (a good example, Henslow’s Sparrow showing close to the road a la the most recent edition of North American Birds), that bird and the notorious ‘east Montreal’ Green-tailed Towhee can also be described as suppressed, that is to not reveal the bird’s presence for no good reason, but that is another topic entirely. In Quebec there is not quite the intensity associated with a suppressed bird as in the UK where, at best, the suppressors are ostracized from the birding scene for a while (or for life for serial offenders), at worst? Well some characters are not above administering the odd ‘slap’.

Back to reality. The Ruff showed nicely if distant and Northern Rough-winged Swallow along with Least Sandpiper were added to the year. We returned home via Montee Smellee (not a made up name) and while Sandra had a nap I enjoyed Field Sparrow, Eastern Towhee and a surprise Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Sunday was quieter and at some point domestics have to catch up but I did slip out around our local lake and managed to take a few photographs.

The fine weather means the mossies will not be far away and deet laden gloop will be required for woodland forays. With this in mind we visited a site in St-Lazare to watch American Woodcocks do their strange display. Nearby a whip-poor-will lived up to its name but refused to hawk the barely lit skyline. Still, I know where they are, even if the next trip after them might end up as a feast for the thousands.

The year list progresses to somewhere in the late 160s. A change in the weather later in the week should dump a few more warblers downtown in Summit Park, I suspect that my last vacation day until June 1st is about to be used.

The Chippers are back but they never stop eating.

A Ruby-crowned Kinglet with just a hint of ruby.

Barn Swallow, they are mainly rustier than this one underneath.

Get orf my wire.

Black-throated Green Warbler, a pleasure to see.

Palm Warbler, the eastern breeding version

More of a full frontal

Head shot, a bit of movement though

They may be common but Yellow-rumped Warblers in spring are very striking.

2007-05-01T19:41:00.000-04:00

Just for the record

27-28 April 2007

It poured for most of the weekend but, we still went out and managed to bolster the year list with a few nice birds. We stopped off at Victoriaville and the Reservoir Baudette (not sure of the spelling). What a great local patch that place must be. Of interest was the first Bonaparte’s Gull of the year, also a female Black Scoter and ten Oldsquaw. Yes I know the name is now Long-tailed Duck but Oldsquaw is infinitely better if slightly derogatory to the Injuns. We then went of to the Chaudiere Valley which is about 90km south of Quebec City. The valley is flooded in many places and we had some excellent birding despite the weather. Our main target was four Glossy Ibis which we quickly found. Next was a Common Teal, still only a variation of Green-winged Teal here for some unaccountable reason, remember that the next time North America claims to be two years in front of Europe and don’t even get me on the phone system! Anyway, I regard it as a good species and tick it. We found it fairly easily then birded the floods for several kilometers catching up with one of the Horned (Slavonian) Grebes. A little later we came across another Common Teal and, checking back at the first which was still in situ, added it to the self found in Quebec list.

Sunday contrived to be wetter still but the lure of a Wilson’s Phalarope saw me perusing the flooded fields of the Richeleau at St-Blaise. The phalarope was not present but the birding was nice despite the precipitation. Heading home I checked out St-Lazare sand pits just as the rain ended. It turned out to be a very serendipitous stop as Broad-winged Hawks suddenly decided to move. I sat and watched a total of 22 go north including a minor kettle of seven. Osprey, Red-shouldered Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk and Red-tails rounded off a nice hawk watch, a couple of Greater Scaup and a handful of my first Yellow-rumped Warblers for the year made it even better. The last addition for the month was a fine Palm Warbler at the pits followed by another near my home later, time to get out dawn and duck for the next seven weeks I think.
Below a few record shots, they are awful I know but it is a listing blog, I will explain your disappointment when making a pitch for a new camera!

The Chaudiere Valley, or at least part of it.

The main reason we went there, one of the Glossy Ibis.

Horned Grebe looking horned in a grebe like way.

Ambition is a fine thing, so it a Hooded Merganser.

Despite the rain, I still take (bad) pictures, Wilson's Snipe.

The wet look is in for American Wigeon this year.

As the blog post title promised a record shot, this is a Palm Warbler.

The nearest of the Broad-winged Hawks to pass over.

Back with a bang, Savannah Sparrows are everywhere.

2007-04-30T18:46:00.000-04:00

Stroll into spring

April 16th-27th 2007

After what seemed an age the snow and ice have finally gone and the birds can get on with their summer lives.

Year ticks have been arriving at a steady pace and the year list is now 140. Continuing the search for a Tufted Titmouse I visited the Philipsburg reserve in southern Quebec on April 19th. No titmouse but a good day’s birding in fine weather. An early migrant there was Lincoln’s Sparrow, two birds seen well on the fringe of the marsh and a species that tends to arrive in Quebec later in April or in early May. For the first time butterflies were on the wing and several Mourning Cloaks, called Camberwell beauty in Europe, were out sunning themselves.

Sunday 22nd April saw us heading off along the St-Lawrence to a new site for us at Contracouer where we had distant views of a male Eurasian Wigeon. Moving on we went to Baie du Febvre as it is usually fairly quiet there people wise and there is always the possibility of something interesting. As it happened half of Quebec had descended on the place making it look very untidy. There was very little space to view from at the lookouts and there appeared to be a boy scout infestation. We ticked off Ruddy Duck and left, the next day a Glossy Ibis showed up, we may yet have to revisit and soon.

During the following week White-throated Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow and Brown Thrasher arrived and, as spring gathers momentum, the year list will swell rapidly.
Below are a few shots from the period including a few mammals and the Mourning Cloaks.

To paraphrase Homer Simpson, Doe!

A Muskrat being unobtrusive.

Red Squirrel and, above, a cute little Chipmunk, ah!

One of our local Pileated Woodpeckers, almost as destructive to trees as our local property developers, almost!

A hirsute cousin of the above.

Soaring BOP 1 (bird of prey), the ever increasing Turkey Vulture.

Soaring BOP 2, male Northern Harrier.

Soaring BOP 3, a Rough-legged Hawk heading north.

Mourning Cloak or Camberwell Beauty, your choice.

2007-04-15T21:42:00.001-04:00

Splish splash splish little April showers!

14-15-April 2007

Saturday 15th of April was cold in the morning, wet in the afternoon and the first Pine Warbler of the year sang in the garden.

Sunday was wetter but, four Tundra Swans were reported from Parc Plaisance on the Ottawa River so off we splashed. Despite the rain there seemed to be plenty of hawk activity with groups of Turkey Vultures and several each of Rough-legged Hawks and Northern Harrier.

On reaching the park it was clear that the birds were likely to be on the river side and not in the inland’ bays. There were plenty of ducks though, Buffleheads, Hooded Mergansers etc. When we got to the river view the wind was brisk and wet, nothing showed. We set off exploring the other bits of the park hoping to find the birds as far as possibly the smelliest town on Quebec, Thurso. It smells because of the huge paper plant, it really really smells.

We had little luck with our explorations and the rain had started to hammer a bit but we decided to return to the park for one last go and voila, there they were, sitting on the Quebec side of the river (very sensibly) and doing swan like things. A quick scan then revealed three grebes bobbing about in the swell but firmly tucked up asleep. Eventually they stuck their heads up and their Ids were resolved as Red-necked Grebes, all in winter plumage. Despite having seen hundreds of both species in all plumages, these three bouncing blobs with nothing for perspective except each other were quite a challenge and it was only when they became active in a slack area of water that I could see them well enough to clinch the ID.

Please to have added a couple of good Quebec species to a Pied-billed Grebe and a Swamp Sparrow for the year list we set off home. Our last stop would be near the town of Hudson where some Bohemian Waxwings had been seen the day before. Our luck stayed and at least three birds were with around 50 Cedar Waxwings feeding on berries by a car park. Bohemians have been very scarce this winter, I had nearly given up hope of one.

Because of the rain and the range of some of the birds seen the photos on this post are rubbish but, this is a year list blog and they were year ticks.
The year list is at 125 (I think) and the list for the month so far is 101.

American Kestrel in rain and distant.

Three of four Tundra Swan, even more distant but with the same amout of rain.

Not as wet or as distant photo of one of the Bohemian Waxwings with a few Cedar Waxwings, the Bohemian is on the right.

2007-04-07T19:56:00.001-04:00

Easter bunnies, 6-7 April 2007

Easter should be moved to late May, a much more interesting time to have an extra day off work to go birding, that way we would not have to brave the sudden dip in temperatures and light snow flurries, such was the fare of Easter Friday and Saturday.

The Snowy Owls have all gone from my area but have been replaced many fold by the hoardes of Snow and Canada Geese. Canada Geese seem to be in every field, not so quietly adding extra nutrients to the thawing landscape. Snow Geese are a bit more circumspect, preferring to drop into the middle of distant fields, not surprising when you see the antics of the local hunters, note to file, birders should not watch hunters at play, it can only enforce a feeling of ‘them and us’. I’ve said before that I have no objection to hunting and responsible hunters, I just feel that we as birders get a raw deal. Hunters can hunt virtually everywhere it seems, the birds do not get a day off and we do not get a hunting free day to observe them. Perhaps we should sit down and discuss time share, and please don’t tell me how much hunters pay to hunt, the object of their attention does not belong to any Government so therefore they have no moral right to charge for hunting. Oh and don’t dare quote some ridiculous religious text giving man dominion over all animals, that would be just too stupid.

Anyway, rant over and on with the birding. After trying for a Ross’s Goose amongst the 10,000 or so Snow Geese in my area several times, but being thwarted by sweaty Neanderthals swinging winged Snow Geese around by the neck to kill them (oops there I go again, sorry, responsible hunters swinging winged Snow Geese around by the neck to kill them, better?), we went out to take a look at a regular goose loafing point by the Pont de Gonzagues on the Beauharnois Canal. On arrival our luck was in and we were able to get close views of perhaps 3500 Snow Geese and smaller numbers of Canada Geese plus a few other returning wildfowl species.

The birds gather on a large lake with good access along the north side, unfortunately the light does not always cooperate from that side but there is a gated track that allows slightly obstructed views from the south side. Just go through the gate with the no hunting sign and follow the track to view by the spent cartridge piles!

After a bit of scanning I picked up an adult Ross’s Goose but quickly lost it again amongst the fluid goose pack. I then spent some time reading the yellow neck collars on some of the birds, eight in all, I’ll post details of their origins when I find out.

The constant movement of the geese (in part because we were a bit exposed and they chose to wander away) later revealed another Ross’s much nearer, a first-winter bird. I took some general ‘in the area’ shots and have a record shot to post below. I tend to think that Ross’s is perhaps more regular than people think, this was the fifth or sixth I’ve found locally, but for many birders here there is not quite the same compulsion to scan every flock for something unusual, something I can fully understand.

While out I snapped a Northern Harrier (badly) and have supplemented this posting with shots of one of two Pileated Woodpeckers in our garden this (Saturday) morning.

A general view of some of the Snow Geese.

Whites and Blues.

The Ross's Goose is sitting, and is in it's second calendar year (not of sitting obviously). This is the best shot I could find but the length of the bill is exagerated by the legs of the geese behind. I cropped and lightened it a bit then put unsharp mask on, a record shot.

Northern Harrier looping the loop.

Peekaboo pecker, this bird seemed to have found some grubs in one of our wood piles, its mate was in the next tree sending morse code tap tap taps.

Every now and then it hopped into the tree for a look see.

2007-04-06T18:18:00.000-04:00

April fools

31 March-2 April 2007

The promise of fine weather conditions over the last weekend in March was enough to finally get us out along the south shore of the St-Lawrence in search of King Eider.

Our previous March visit to the area between Rimouski and Matane, back in 2004, had produced four King Eiders, and we were optimistic of success, we just had to do the kilometers. In the end we did the kilometers and some!

After work on the Friday, crossing Montreal was a 1.5 hour trip to start with. We hit Montmagny and our overnight stop around 8.45pm. The next day we whipped along the highway and began birding in earnest just after Rimouski. As usual the shore was littered with Glaucous Gulls and Iceland Gulls of the race kumlieni, always a treat for someone who has spent hours at a gull roost waiting for just one to arrive.

Common Eiders were a bit thin on the ground (or river) but we hit a few just east of Grand-Metis and, sure enough, out in the minch with 50 or so Common Eider was a nice male King Eider. It was a bit distant for a picture but I took a poor record shot anyway.

Mission accomplished we cast around for options. There was plenty of birding still to be had but what year ticks could be found. A freshening breeze cooled our ears and forced our hand a little and so we decided to head off through the Parc de la Gaspesie to try for a few species on the southern side of Gaspe.

The parc is spectacularly beautiful and we constantly saw finches gritting by the roadside. Among them was at least one Hoary Redpoll although we saw several more clean white rumps flush at several spots along the way. It took around two hours to cruise through and we enjoyed a tame Ruffed Grouse, a nervous Bald Eagle and plenty of White-winged Crossbills. The real winner though was the scenery and it pains you to think that our species can produce the dross that thinks it is ok to dump their trash by the roadside in such a place, but it does and they do.

Eventually we arrived at the town of Bonaventure and found a pleasant motel for the night. It was our intention to bird until around 11.00 the next day then drive home, about 800km or so away. As it happened our best laid plan rather floundered and circumstance saw us spending the night of April 2nd at Rivere de Loup, still six hours from Montreal. In the time before arriving at Riviere de Loup we had managed to get along the shore to Perce with Great Cormorant, Black-legged Kittiwake and Razorbill added to the year list, a little later, off Point St-Pierre, a lone Gannet passed by.
The year list ticks on, 115 now (4-4-7) with plenty in store for the rest of April. Our ‘little’ trip recorded 62 species and I managed to take a few photographs to brighten the pages of this blog.

A 2cy Glaucous Gull making an emission.

Adult Glaucous Gull behaving a little better.

2cy Kumlien's Iceland Gull.

Adult Kumlien's Iceland Gull

Common Eiders riding the surf

The awe inspiring Parc de la Gaspesie

Truck dodging Ruffed Grouse

The famous Perce rock complete with Razorbills

2007-03-25T18:28:00.000-04:00

Oh Canadas (geese that is)

24-25 March 2007

The northward movement of Canada Geese has now started in earnest with barely a sky view without them. The fields around St-Clet have undergone a rapid thaw and flood pools are starting to look attractive to both birder and bird.

Saturday 24th I did a quick tour of the St-Clet lanes but first making an ‘official’ visit to St-Lazare Sand Pit. An official visit is one where I see enough to warrant a notebook entry. The pits qualified by virtue of a singing Northern Grey Shrike which, along with American Robins, Common Grackles and the newly in-post Red-winged Blackbirds took the year list there to 13!

The St-Clet fields proper held about 1000 Canada Geese and one Cackling Goose a stupid name really and it got me thinking that perhaps we should name the races (or species) after the Canadian provinces.

Greater Canada Goose would, of course, be Quebecois Goose.

The ones that make the most noise and produce the most crap could be Ontarian Goose.

The Albertan Goose would refuse to mix with any other geese.

The Newfoundland Goose would be permanently out of step with the rest of the geese.

The BC Goose would always be on the left of the flock.

You would never see a Saskatchewan Goose, they would always be in the middle of nowhere.

Labradorean Geese have a barking call but nothing like as rich and unintelligible as the call of the Nova Scotia Goose.

The New Brunswick Goose honks and honcs, nobody knows where the North-west Territories Goose is, or cares.

The Nunavut Goose is best ignored and it might go away.

That just leaves our oddly named Cackling Goose which would become PEI Goose, small, attractive and a pleasure to behold.

I know I missed out Manitoba, I may have to visit Winnipeg some day, enough already, back to the birding.

I did not really expect the Snowy Owls to still be about but, on reaching the end of Ste-Julie which, as everyone now knows is the epicenter of the magic triangle for Snowies, there was a male on a fence post just asking to be photographed. A quick scan revealed a female nearby but I ignored her and crept up on the male taking a few snaps as he diligently ignored me. Later in the day Sandra came out with me and we saw two more males in the same area and a stunning flock of at least 1,000 Snow Buntings.

In between time we had been to St-Timothee marsh and located the incubating Great Horned Owl, a sore thumb amidst a few Great Blue Herons, back early in the heronry. At nearby Hungry Bay duck numbers are climbing with lots of Greater Scaup, a few Lessers and Ring-necked Ducks and a single female Barrow’s Goldeneye amongst her Common cousins

Sunday was quieter, there was an overnight snowfall which stymied the migration a bit but there was still one Snowy Owl in the regular place, a Northern Harrier was new and a couple of Hooded Mergansers were nervously feeding on the Solanges Canal.

Below a few snaps and oh, the Canada Goose thing, its comedy, I don’t really mean it and I don't want anyone to feel insulted, especially you lovely Ontarians.

Top to bottom, male Snowy Owl post preen then alert (or as alert as they get in sunshine), female Horned Lark then, finally, two Hooded Mergansers swimming away, an invaluable aid to identification as they always seem to do that.

2007-03-20T20:07:00.000-04:00

Winter wind down

17-18 March 2007

While many people on this side of the pond celebrated the St-Patrick's day weekend (heaven knows why, most of those who call themselves Irish were born here, how can Canada establish its own people when most add the nationality of a distant relative to their origin, Irish Canadian indeed!) we ignored it and went birding. Saturday was a bit of a trial with snow all day, Sunday was brighter so we went back to Chemin Scotch and the surrounding area to try to see some male Red Crossbills.

Eventually we were successful although they really did not want their photo taking but a nice male White-winged Crossbill posed and a White-tailed Deer paused as it cross the track

The month appears to be warming up considerably and so the fields of St-Clet will be alive with wildfowl as flood pools form for a few days. The year list is stalled on 102 at the moment but I predict a sudden surge so.

Just a couple of average snaps, not a great month for photography so far.

2007-03-11T18:52:00.000-04:00

Blowing cold and hot

10-11 February 2007

Following a bitterly cold week, Sunday saw a thaw set in with temperatures up around 4 degrees, tropical! Year list options are diminishing until the return of our summer guests so I concentrated on Red Crossbill, again! Thanks to a tip off from Martin Bowman I made the short trip to one of the country back roads north of Hawksbury, Ontario. Sure enough, within 1km we came across a female gritting, two more females showed briefly later but ice rain set in so we didn’t hang around.

On Friday I chanced upon a covey of Grey Partridges near Ste-Marthe. They were species 99 for the year, the Red Crossbill was number 100, only 200 to go. Also in the area were up to 200 Lapland Longspurs, 600 Snow Buntings and 200 Horned Larks, excellent birding. I nipped back Saturday morning first thing to try for a picture but was out of luck, the regular female Snowy Owl was present on her perch though.

Sunday I spent a few hours in my favourite St-Clet fields seeing a new immature Snowy Owl and the regular male. A few Wild Turkeys were browsing seed heads on grasses protruding from the deep snow and a much reduced number of longspurs etc were still present but skittish from traffic flushing.

Apart from the owl, everything else was a bit hard to photograph, record shots below.

A few garden shots from the weekend, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Goldfinch, Purple Finch (female), and Dark-eyed Junco.

Female Red Crossbill in poor light.

Mme Snowy Owl

Below a flight shot. Not a great image but it shows bits you only normally see briefly.

One of six Wild Turkeys near Ste-Marthe.

This Coyote had obviously found its way into someones outside larder, it was hurrying across the fields carrying this oven ready duck, plucked and headless. It knew I was there but, instead on gettings its head down and running, it could not resist a backwards glance.

I spent about twenty minutes wating for the female Snowy Owl to leave her perch, hoping to get a flight shot. She fussed and preened for a while, even having a fluffing session which is often a prelude for flight. It was a bit cold so I had lowered the camera for a rest when she took off leaving me with a series of shots with the wings chopped off. Next time maybe.

2007-03-02T16:13:00.000-05:00

The last day of February

28 February 2007

With vacation days burning holes in my notebook, I decided to take advantage of the unseasonable temperatures and go birding, what a surprise eh!

My main target was Carolina Wren, a species right on the edge of its northern limit in the Montreal area, for a few more years at least. One had been seen regularly at a fine set of feeders in Chateguay so off I went.

The feeders are well placed and by surreptitiously parking in a quiet spot I could scan the very birdy garden looking for the wren from the cover of the car, this also offered photographic opportunities. I had been there half an hour enjoying Red-bellied Woodpecker, lots of American Tree Sparrows and even an Eastern Towhee briefly when two fine examples of Quebec workmen showed up and started a pump that screamed for 45 minutes and rather upset the birds. The relief when they turned it off and took their van, complete with maximum decibel radio, away was tangible, suddenly singing birds were everywhere, sounding louder than usual. I couldn’t decide whether they were singing louder to out blast the pump or whether the lack of screaming pump meant everything else was enhanced. To cut a long story short, I didn’t see the Carolina Wren.

After checking a few other local spots but seeing little I decided to trek across Montreal to Laval and try out the best owl wood in Quebec, Bois Papineau. On arrival the first bird I saw was an Eastern Screech Owl sat sunning in its hole, a good start. I then wandered around all of the spots where I’d seen owls before but finding none. One reason might have been a team of teens on a loud outing; it must be something new on the curriculum since I was at school. They even made the sound of the screaming pump seem attractive.

I had just about decided to beat the traffic and go early when I came across a group of birders/photographers looking intently at something, another screech, excellent. Then a dog walker asked me (in French) whether I had seen the Grand-duc d’Ámerique (for UK readers pron Granzuck damerike). He then happily led me to the nest with the mother Great Horned Owl sitting tight, ignoring the gathering throng of birders. It got better.

Thanks to the linguistic duality of virtually every Montrealler I’ve ever met, I discovered that the Chouette Rayee (Barred Owl) was also on view today and so I made my way to the spot expecting to peer into the tree tops for views. The owl was just sitting 25 feet up a tree on a bare side branch looking faintly bored. Its bill and feet were stained red, probably courtesy of a squirrel’s meaty bits, and it was not in the least interested in us no matter how much squeaking, grunting or subliminal ‘who cooks for you’ was going on.

The small group of watchers drifted away but I stayed and moved around for better light, unfortunately that meant all I could see was the birds back, then, the man with the dog came by and that sparked the owls interest, it even moved around to show its front to us, what a nice bird.

So February ended well with four year list additions making it 98 so far. March might be a good month if we get an early thaw, on the other hand it could be bitterly cold with snow dumps, c’est la vie.

Now the photos.

American Tree Sparrows, soon to be off north.

Male House Sparrow, naturalised Quebec birds have different calls from those in the UK, Le cheep cheep.

The first Eastern Screech-Owl, they don't move much!

This side on view of a Barred Owl shows why they can be overlooked, their subtle browns can blend nicely with tree trunks.

Mother Great Horned Owl blending nicely into the background.

The second Eastern Screech-Owl, equally as active as the first.

Back to the Barred Owl and the side on camouflage can work but, front on, when you are the size of a small refrigerator, its hard to be inconspicuous.

Despite my convincing attempts to impersonate a nervous squirrel, the Barred Owl only gave me a cursory backwards glance, then..For all those observers who have never seen a Barred Owl move much, here is a sequence where the bird actually turns around, full circle on the perch.

Just organising my feet.

Nearly there.

What's that, dog, edible, yes, hungry, no just finished lunch, just check out my bill in the earlier shots if you want to see the stains.

2007-02-26T18:17:00.000-05:00

Desperately seeking crossbills!

Sunday 25th February 2006

With the February options running out we plumped for a trip to Parc Gatineau north of the Nation’s capital and the chance (yet again) of Red Crossbill. The birds had been reported from the Eardley-Masham section of the parc, an area we had never been to, set at the western end of the parc and essentially a lengthy gravel access road between two villages.

On arrival, the habitat looked very promising with tall pines, rolling hills and a few craggy bits. The road was relatively quiet (for Quebec) and so parking and birding presented no problems. After a couple of stops I picked up a cruising Golden Eagle, probably a 2cy bird based on the reduced white in the wings and tail. Shortly after the first of two adult Bald Eagles passed by, always impressive. I apologise in advance for the record dots below but I do like to provide proof positive if at all possible.

While there were plenty of White-winged Crossbills around, the Reds eluded us, although I did hear what may have been them overhead, but couldn’t locate them. I also heard a few Ruffed Grouse drumming in the wood but none ventured forth.

After a few hours searching we decided to take advantage of the perfect light and conditions and go the 35km or so north to Brennan’s Hill. We had visited this site and seen the winter resident Northern Hawk Owl back in January but it was raining buckets at the time and the photos were just record shots, this time we were luckier with the weather and, although the bird sat high in a pine, I managed a few better images.

For those in the Montreal region reading this, Brennan’s Hill is about two hours, an easy drive and the owl had a few regular perches. If its in the trees by the yellow house, the home owner has no objections to birders walking the drive but don’t go through the gate. I was told that the owl is very approachable and often sits on lower trees by the road. Also, it’s a Hawk Owl for goodness sake, how much incentive do you need to see one of the World’s top owls!!

On the way over to Brennan’s Hill a brown lump in a roadside bush turned out to be a Ruffed Grouse which, with characteristic uncertainty, slowly dropped off the perch and moved away at a brisk amble, hiding under a hedge in the clean white snow.
Below a few shots. I won’t caption them but they are… Golden Eagle, Bald Eagle, Hawk Owl and Ruffed Grouse, enjoy.

2007-02-24T19:56:00.000-05:00

St-Clet fields

Saturday 24th February 2007

A short trip around the lanes produced the usual Lapland Longspurs, Snow Buntings and Horned Larks, also a couple of Ravens.

I checked along the Cites des Jeunes but no Short-eared Owls were showing. On my second drive along Ste-Julie another birder had a beautiful male Snowy Owl in a tree next to the road, Parking cautiously I managed a few shots before he went off to reclaim another tree from an intruding Snowy Owl.

Towards the end of Ste-Julie, the regular female was hunched on her pole. Looking a bit raggy now.

Below a few shots:

2007-02-21T20:24:00.000-05:00

Gyr Falcon at the Falaise

21 Feb 2007

Using a few hours I had been saving and with the weather calm but cold I set off to Mont St-Hilaire and the Falaise de Dieppe hoping to see one of the Gyr Falcons that roost there each winter.

Eventually a grey form arrived, announcing to all and sundry by calling loudly, that this was the home of the Gyr Falcon for the winter.

I took some distant shots, very distant in fact, still its the record that counts. The white bird hadn't showed by the time I left but, thanks to Gilles and Yves, I now know exactly where to look. If you fancy your chances, the birds are more spectacular in late March when the summer resident Peregrines reclaim their home.

Snaps below, sorry for the quality, the bird and the location (full shot).