Bird Protection Quebec's Field Trip Report for Saturday November 22nd

Montreal, Cap St Jacques

Twenty birders started out on yesterday's field trip at Cap St Jacques NaturePark at 8:00 a.m. but with an attrition rate greater than Napolean's retreat from Moscow only eight remained by the time the trip wrapped up at 11:15 a.m.Needless to say the gusty northwest winds blowing off the Lake of Two Mountainst ook their toll and also made spotting and identifying birds on the water difficult. Considering the conditions, the birding turned out to be a little better than expected with several interesting sightings.

Bird of the day was a cooperative adult Northern Shrike spotted early in the trip atop a small spruce tree. It was later seen again at much closer range under very favourable lighting conditions at the end of the outing and provided excellent views for those who remained. Six Long-tailed Ducks seen briefly by several of the group were a nice surprise. Watching close to 100 American robins feeding on buckthorn berries and the berries of what appeared to be hackberry trees (help me out here botanists - is this tree present at Cap St Jacques and Ile Bizard?) were a pleasant respite during a brief sunny period. All in all adecent morning with some nice birds and even nicer company. Thanks to all who braved the conditions if only for a brief time.

Official Trip Report: Weather -8C rising to -4C. Strong northwest winds gusting to 50kph. Cloudy with a few sunny breaks.

Our complete list of 25 species included: Canada goose - 70, Long-tailed duck - 6, Common goldeneye - 100, Hooded merganser - 2, Common merganser - 15, Double-crested cormorant - 1, Great blue heron - 2, Sharp-shinned hawk - 1, Ring-billed gull - 20, Herring gull - 4, Downy woodpecker - 3, Hairy woodpecker - 1, Northern shrike - 1, Blue jay - 6, American crow - 20, Black-capped chickadee - 20, Brown creeper - 4, American robin - 100+, European starling - 50American tree sparrow - 6Dark-eyed junco - 4Northern cardinal - 4Red-winged blackbird - 1, American goldfinch - 3, House sparrow - 2 - Wayne