Summer Series - Trip #7 report for August 5th

We couldn't have asked for a better day to be out birding. Blue sky, sunshine, no humidity, and cool breezes, at times, all contributed toan excellent day beginning at Pointe de Yamachiche, a stop at Pointe du Lac and, for 6 of us, a return route that took us across the bridge at Trois-Rivieres for a stop at Baie du Febvre before returning home.

First a few notes about Yamachiche. We we first arrived at the meeting place at Exit 174, we were very concerned about a car-load of young guys with air rifles and paintball guns set up in the parking lot. They were randomly shooting at anything that flew by.Fortunately it seems that the range of their weapons and their poor aim prevented them from hitting anything. We wondered what the rest of the visit to the region would have to offer. Fortunately as wemoved on to the next exit, #180, and the entrance to the path to Pointe de Yamachiche, we were really pleased to see the new parking facility that has been set up. Also a sign has been erected welcoming birders to the area, combined with a notice that ATVs were no longer permitted on these trails.

This was great news as we quickly found that the path leading to the waterfront, that was once quite wide and filled with ruts and mud created by the ATV traffic, was now smoother and much more pleasant to walk along. What we initially thought might be a trying experience turned out tobe a great three-hour long visit to the sandy point looking out on to Lac St-Pierre with a great volume of birds and a wonderful selection of species. One additional surprise at the site was the overwhelming number of Monarch butterflies. We must have seen hundreds along the path from the parking lot to the point. Eight birders in total participated in today's outing resulting in avery impressive total of 58 species. A few of the highlights of theday included 2 juvenile Bald Eagles, several Northern Harriers, Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plovers, Bonaparte's Gull, Common Loon (all at Pointe de Yamachiche), and at Baie du Febvre, Green-winged Teal, Ruddy Ducks, and an American Coot. Here is our total species list for the day.

Canada Goose, Wood Duck, Am. Black Duck, Mallard, Green-winged Teal,Ruddy Duck, Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant,Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Turkey Vulture, BaldEagle, Northern Harrier, Common Moorhen, American Coot, Black-belliedPlover, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, LesserYellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Bonaparte'sGull, Ring-billed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Common Tern, BlackTern, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher, DownyWoodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Wood-Pewee,Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Red-eyed Vireo, AmericanCrow, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Barn Swallow, Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch,Marsh Wren, Veery, American Robin, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing,Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Song Sparrow, Bobolink, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, American Goldfinch.

Thank you to everyone who attended and a special welcome to Jean deMarre who joined us today

Sheldon