Sightings for Saturday March 20th

Dundee, Réserve nationale de faune du Lac Saint-Francois digue aux aigrettes : 2 Sandhill cranes, Northern pintails, Ring-necked ducks, Green-winged teal, American wigeon, 2 Northern harrier, many Song sparrows and Tree sparrows. Many Canada geese and Snow geese in the fields in the area
2 Grues du Canada, Canards pilets, Fuligules à collier, Sarcelles d'hiver Canards d'Amérique. 2 Busards St-Martin, beaucoups de Bruants chanteurs et de Bruants hudsonien. Beaucoup de Bernaches et d'Oies des neiges dans les champs environnant - Denis Collins

Darlene and I decided to bird yesterday morning along the western shore of the Richelieu River, hoping to find a number of the early arrivals of the season.

You know it's going to be a good day when your first bird of the day is a Lesser Black-backed Gull! The bird was found on a patch of quickly disappearing ice, eating a fish, near the small bridge crossing over on to Ile-Ste-Therese. We were able to get some very nice photos of the bird.

We moved along the river through St-Jean, St-Blaise and St-Paul-de-l'Ile aux Noix down to the U.S. border at Lacolle at the northern tip of Lake Champlain.

It's great to hear the mixture of the songs of Common Grackle, Red-winged Blackbird and American Robin almost constantly throughout the day and to see the seemingly endless rafts of ducks, particularly Common Goldeneye, along the length of the river.

We completed the day with a total of 35 species, which I'll get to in a moment. Our biggest surprise of the day came towards the end as we travelled along ch. de la Barbotte towards the U.S. border. At a clearing, with an unobstructed view of Lake Champlain, while looking at mixed flocks of Goldeneye, Scaup and Common Mergansers, we spotted at least 4 Tree Swallows skimming over the water. After closer inspection, that number easily increased to perhaps 40 to 50! The first of the season that we're aware of!

It also took until close to midday before we finally heard the familiar sound of hundreds of Snow Geese flying overhead headed towards Lake Champlain.

So, a great spring-like day of birding with the following species:
Snow Goose, Canada Goose, Am. Black Duck, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Scaup species, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, American Kestrel, Killdeer, Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Greater Black-backed Gull, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Tree Swallow, Black-capped Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Robin, European Starling, Dark-eyed Junco, Song Sparrow, Northern cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Purple Finch, House Finch, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow.
Oies des neiges, Bernache du Canada, Canard noir, Canard colvert, Canards pilets, Fuligules (esp), Harle couronné, Garrot à oeil d'or, Grand harle, Crécerelle d'Amérique, Pluvier kildir, Goéland à bec cerclé, Goéland argenté, Goéland brun, Goéland marin, Pigeon biset, Tourterelle triste, Pic mineur, Pic chevelu, Geai bleu, Corneille d'Amérique, Hirondelle bicolore, Mésange à tête noire, Sittelle à poitrine blanche, Merle d'Amérique, Étourneau sansonnet, Junco ardoisé, Bruant chanteur, Cardinal rouge, Carouge à epaulettes, Quiscale bronze, , Vacher à tête brune, Roselin pourpré, Roselin familier, Chardonneret jaune, Moineau domestique - Sheldon Harvey