Summer Series of Birding 2009 - Trip #7 Report

A great turnout of 18 birders for yesterday's trip to the sewage lagoons in St-Isidore, Casselman, Embrun and St-Albert, Ontario. The weather, thankfully, turned out to be a non-issue for the whole day. In fact, our stay at the first stop, St-Isidore, was under blue sky and sunshine! Cloudy and occasionally threatening skies dominated the rest of the day, but no rain at all other than a few very light sprinkles. Actually the clouds were probably a good thing as the temperature remained around 22 or 23 degrees for the whole day, with a light wind, all contributing to a pleasant time with no humidity.

It was a long day, as we completed our visit at the St-Albert lagoons at about 4:30 yesterday afternoon.

The high water level at several of the lagoons, and the amount of heavy overgrowth in some locations did not provide ideal conditions for the anticipated shorebirds, but a few of the ponds did provide opportunities to spot a number of shorebird species.

We completed the day with a total of 56 species, including 12 species of ducks and geese.

Thanks to everyone for a fun and fast-paced day in eastern Ontario. Here is out complete species list for the day.

Canada Goose, Wood Duck, Gadwall, Am. Black Duck, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, American Bittern, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Northern Harrier, Merlin, Virginia Rail, Sora, Common Moorhen, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Wilson's Snipe, Ring-billed Gull, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Northern Flicker, Eastern Kingbird, Blue Jay, American Crow, Tree Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Barn Swallow, Black-capped Chickadee, American Robin, Gray Catbird, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat, Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Baltimore Oriole, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow - Sheldon