Bird Protection Quebec "Field Trip"

2013 Summer Series of Birding - Trip #7 - Saturday, August 24

Hello everyone. Next Saturday's trip will wrap up our 2013 Summer Series; our 10th anniversary year. We will be making our annual visit to 4 Eastern Ontario sewage lagoons. This summer outing has become one of our most popular and productive trips.

We will be repeating the route of last year, starting at the St-Albert Lagoons, then on to Embrun. We'll take a lunch break at the Tim Horton rest stop in Casselman around noon and then move on to the Casselman Lagoons and finally to the St-Isidore Lagoons.

DATE: Saturday, August 24
TIME: 7:00 AM – Full day; combination driving/walking trip.
MEETING PLACE: Departing from the Hudson Inn parking lot in Hudson, Quebec at Exit 17 off of Highway 40. Please arrive early to be ready to depart for Ontario at 7 AM sharp. We have roughly a 90 km. drive from Hudson to our first stop in St-Albert, thus the need for the early start.

DRIVING INSTRUCTIONS: The driving route for the day is available in a file in the "Files" section of the Songsparrow group. The document includes links to the individual sewage lagoon information pages. Click on "Files" on the menu on the left of the group page. Look for the file BPQ Driving Instructions. Click on it and the document 2013-08-24 E. Ontario Sewage Lagoon trip details.doc is there. If possible, please print out a copy to bring with you on Saturday.

ITINERARY: We will visit 4 different sewage lagoons; St-Albert, Embrun, Casselman and St-Isidore. We'll be looking for a variety of shorebirds and marsh-dwellers, together with whatever other songbirds, raptors, etc. that show up throughout the day. St-Albert and Embrun will easily fill the morning. We'll break for lunch at Tim Horton's in Casselman prior to heading on to the Casselman and St-Isidore stops. Bring your lunch or pick up something at a number of restaurants located at the Cassleman stop. Picnic tables, washrooms and gasoline are all available here.

There is a lot of walking required at each site, particularly at St. Albert, the largest of the four sites. The lagoons are located in wide open, exposed areas, away from any facilities. They provide no shade or shelter from the sun or rain. Therefore dress accordingly and bring along fluids and/or snacks. The grass can
be quite wet at these locations, particularly early in the morning. Be equipped with suitable footwear. We also noted last year that a couple of the lagoon sites have substantial amounts of ragweed present. This caused problems for a few people with allergy issues last year, so be forewarned.

Spotting scopes will be very useful. Also, if you have portable two-way radios, please bring them along. They are excellent tools on road trips to stay in communication with others in the convoy. Car-pooling is recommended, if possible, as parking at a couple of the lagoons is limited. Cars may be left at the Hudson Inn parking lot if you are able to double up with someone.

If you have any question, please contact me by e-mail, or by telephone at 450-462-1459. If you are delayed on Saturday morning, please call me on the BPQ cellphone at 514-637-2141. We will leave Hudson at 7 am sharp. However you will have time to catch up to us at our first stop in St-Albert.

This is a full day of birding. We usually do not get back to the Montreal area until quite late in the afternoon. Should you choose to leave the group at any point during the day, there is easy access back to Highway 417 from any of the sewage lagoon locations.

We look forward to a great day of birding on Saturday. - Sheldon