"Bird Protection Quebec" Granby Field Trip Report - Oct. 20

Today's field trip to CENTRE D'INTERPRETATION DE LA NATURE DU LAC-BOIVIN, in GRANBY certainly had all the making of a fall morning.Last night's rain storm and today's strong winds managed to remove alot of red, gold and brown leaves from the trees. However thetemperature was pleasant, particularly during the sunny periods,certainly a whole lot warmer than our outing to this location last year.

In addition to the Nature Park in Granby, we also paid a visit tonearby Roxton Pond with the hope of finding a few scoters but the birds on Lac Roxton were few and far between, perhaps in part due to the warning signs posted around the lake for blue-green algae contamination.

Huge numbers of both Canada and Snow Geese were spotted throughout thetrip in addition to 10 species of ducks. We completed the day with atotal of 44 species, but songbirds in particular were scattered somewhat sparsely throughout the park. A definite highlight was beingable to hand-feed a very friendly Red-breasted Nuthatch, that is when he could muscle out the chickadees that descended on us! 13 birders participated in today's outing.

Our Bird of the Day turned out not to be a bird at all but was rather the Animal of the Day. Two incredibly large snapping turtles were spotted, one just off the boardwalk in the marshy area and the second in a small stream cutting across one of the wooded trails. Here is our species list for the day.

Canada Goose, Snow Goose, Wood Duck, Gadwall, Am. Wigeon, Am. Black Duck, Mallard, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Ring-billed Gull, Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Common Raven,Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Am. Robin, European Starling,Yellow-rumped Warbler, Am. Tree Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrow,White-throated Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco,Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, 1 Finch species (possibly Common Redpoll, House Sparrow. Another fun day in the field.

Thanks to everyone who participated.

Sheldon