Bird Protection Quebec - Dundee Ste-Martine field trip August 25th

Saturday's field trip to Dundee and Ste-Martine (August 25, 2007) was attended by 9 brave birders considering what conditions in Montreal were like at their times of departure. But the heavy rains cleared out well before the official start time of the trip to be replaced by hot, humid, sultry air. It definitely felt more like summer in Louisianna than the start to our fall migration field trips. At least the breeze picked a little laterto offer some relief.

As would be expected in such conditions the birds were very quiet and notparticularly active. Large groups of swallows appeared to be in migration mode and our official tally of these probably does not match the actual number that we saw as many were high and not readily identified. Large gatherings of blackbirds were also in evidence. Down at ground/tree level only a few small groups of passerines were found.

Despite conditions we had a very respectable count total of 63 species. Included in these were a sighting of a very distant bald eagle (possibly two or the same individual twice), several good views of ospreys including one with a very large, very dark coloured fish (species unidentified!), a close fly-by from a bittern being held up by a stiff breeze, nice views of great egrets at Ste-Martine, side by side views of lesser and greater yellowlegs also at Ste-Martine and, for some of our members, turkeys in the fields near Dundee. This latter entry includes a rather large group of 20 mostly young birds spied by Darlene and Sheldon Harvey on a short side trip.

Here is our complete list for the day: Pied-billed Grebe - 2, Double-crested Cormorant - 8, American Bittern - 1, Great Blue Heron - 2, Great Egret - 4, Green Heron - 2, Turkey Vulture - 3, Canada Goose - 100, Wood Duck - 6, American Black Duck - 1, Mallard - 100+, Blue-winged Teal - 1, Green-winged Teal - 2, Hooded Merganser - 1, Osprey - 3, Bald Eagle - 1, Northern Harrier - 2, Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2, Wild turkey - 30, Killdeer - 100+, Greater Yellowlegs - 4, Lesser Yellowlegs - 40, Spotted Sandpiper - 2, Semipalmated Sandpiper - 1, Common Snipe - 7, Ring-billed Gull - 30+, Rock Pigeon - 150+, Mourning Dove - 100+, Chimney Swift -1, Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 3, Belted Kingfisher - 3, Downy Woodpecker - 1, Northern Flicker - 6, Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1, Eastern Kingbird - 2, Red-eyed Vireo - 1, Blue Jay - 12, American Crow - 50, Tree Swallow - 100+, Bank Swallow - 50+, Barn Swallow - 100+, Black-capped Chickadee - 15, Red-breasted Nuthatch - 3, White-breasted Nuthatch - 1, American Robin - 10, Gray Catbird - 6, European Starling - 200+, Cedar Waxwing - 25, Nashville Warbler - 1, Yellow Warbler - 2, Magnolia Warbler - 1, American Redstart - 1, Common Yellowthroat - 15, Chipping Sparrow - 2, Song Sparrow - 4, Swamp Sparrow - 1, Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 4, Red-winged Blackbird - 1000+, Common Grackle - 2, Baltimore Oriole - 1, Purple Finch - 1, American Goldfinch - 24, House Sparrow - 30

Thanks to everyone who came out for a very enjoyable morning.

Wayne