Sightings for Saturday June 21st

Had two recently hatched Upland Sandpipers (Maubèche des champs) walking awkwardly in the center of Chemin William near Rang Bogton just east of Hemmingford. Stopped the car and 'herded' the pair off of the busy road while an adult protested loudly. Hopefully I gave them enough of a scare to instill the idea that roads are unfriendly! - Mark


Summer Series of Birding 2009 - Trip #1 report

6 birders persevered through less than ideal conditions today for the first field trip of this year's Summer Series of Birding. We visited sites in St. Hubert, Carignan and Chambly, getting fairly wet at a number of the stops thanks to on-again, off-again showers.

One of the target birds of the day was the Northern Mockingbird. It has been seen, off and on, around the St. Hubert Airport over the last couple of weeks. Today, unfortunately, was one of the off days. The airport however did provide us with a large number of Bobolinks, found predominantly in the south-east sector, just inside the fencing surrounding the airport grounds. This is the first year I can recall seeing such a large number of Bobolinks in this area.

Heavy rain as we arrived at Fort Chambly prevented us from taking a lengthy look for waterbirds around the fort, but we did manage to spot a few to add to the list.

Here is our complete list of 47 species viewed today. Thanks to our participants for braving the weather.

Canada Goose (10), American Wigeon (2), Mallard (15), Common Goldeneye (1), Double-crested Cormorant (8), Great Blue Heron (2), Black-crowned Night Heron (2), Northern Harrier (2), Killdeer (1), Ring-billed Gull (10), Common Tern (1), Rock Pigeon (20), Mourning Dove (6), Downy Woodpecker (3), Northern Flicker (3), Eastern Wood-Pewee (2), Great Crested Flycatcher (1), Eastern Kingbird (2), Red-eyed Vireo (1), American Crow (8), Purple Martin (30), Black-capped Chickadee (12), Brown Creeper (1), House Wren (2), Veery (2), American Robin (40), Gray Catbird (4), European Starling (50), Cedar Waxwing (6), Yellow Warbler (2), Chestnut-sided Warbler (2), American Redstart (3), Ovenbird (3), Common Yellowthroat (4), Chipping Sparrow (6), Savannah Sparrow (2), Song Sparrow (8), White-throated Sparrow (2), Northern Cardinal (2), Rose-breasted Grosbeak (2), Bobolink (50), Red-winged Blackbird (20), Common Grackle (8), Brown-headed Cowbird (2), House Finch (1), American Goldfinch (12), House Sparrow (4) - Sheldon