Bird Protection Quebec " Field Trip Report" Saturday April 12

Baie du Febvre; 11 of us started to look for Geese in the fields at the lookout. A few duck species only and a 50 Canada Geeses barely a few Snow Geeses. The two ponds were still 90% frozen, no ducks. We proceeded north so see the fields, and we were greeted by a good number of Snow Geeses in the flooded fields. We tried to find the Ross Geese, no luck. We saw a great number of Snow Geeses far away in the fields east of our location and all of a sudden, the Geese close to us and all the others just flew away, in 30 seconds no trace of them at all. We found a few species near lake St-Pierre close to the chalets. We then proceeded eastward on the 132 and stoped at a few places to find a few more duck species. So our total for the morning 36 species thanks to our little group's efforts. - Jean Demers

100,000 Snow Geese, possibly more, 2,000 Canada Geese, 4 Gadwall, 7 American Wigeon, 12 American Duck, 10 Mallard, 4 Northern Shoveler, 30 Northern Pintail, 20 Green-winged Teal, 50 Ring-necked Duck, 6 Hooded Merganser, 2 Ruddy Duck, 2 Turkey Vulture, 3 Northern Harrier, 1 Red-tailed Hawk, 4 Rough-legged Hawk, 1 Cooper's hawk 12 Killdeer, 20 Ring-billed Gull, 1 Great Black-backed Gull, 12 Mourning Dove, 1 Snowy Owl, 2 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, 1 Downy Woodpecker, 1 Blue Jay, 20 American Crow, 4 Common Raven, 1 Horned Lark, 24 Tree Swallow, 3 Black-capped Chickadee, 6 American Robin, 18 European Starling, 12 American Tree Sparrow, 30 Song Sparrow, 50 Red-winged Blackbird, 40 Common Grackle, 12 Brown-headed Cowbird

100 000 oies des neiges, peut-être plus, 2000 Bernaches du Canada, 4 Canard chipeau, 7 Canard d'Amérique, 12 Canard amérique, 10 Canard colvert, 4 Canard souchet, 30 Canard pilet, 20 Sarcelle d'hiver, 50 Fuligule à collier, 6 Harle couronné, 2 Érismature rousse, 2 Urubu à tête rouge, 3 Busard Saint-Martin, 1 Buse à queue rousse, 4 Buse pattue, 1 Épervier de Cooper, 12 Pluvier kildir, 20 Goéland à bec cerclé, 1 Goéland marin, 12 Tourterelle triste, 1 Harfang des neiges, 2 Pic maculé, 1 Pic mineur, 1 Geai bleu, 20 Corneille d'Amérique, 4 Grand Corbeau, 1 Alouette hausse-col, 24 Hirondelle bicolore, 3 Mésange à tête noire, 6 Merle d'Amériquem 18 Étourneau sansonnet, 12 Bruant hudsonien, 30 Bruant chanteur, 50 Carouge à épaulettes, 40 Quiscale bronzé, 12 Vacher à tête brune

Family Trip to see the Snow Geese

Forty participants enjoyed a family trip to Baie Du Febvre to see the Snow geese on April 12th 2014. The snow had melted, the temperature was above freezing and the sky was a beautiful blue. On arrival we thought the fields did contain snow until a cloud of white lifted off the ground and we realized that there were thousands of Snow geese resting in the corn fields. More Snow geese flying against the blue sky were even more beautiful. It was a wonderful day and I believe everyone enjoyed the spectacle.


Thanks to Gay McDougall Gruner, Frederic Hareau and David Mulholland for their help and to our participants who made for an enjoyable trip.


Here is the complete list of birds that we saw. - Barbara MacDuff:

Greater White-fronted goose 1, Snow goose 300,000, Ross' goose 2, Canada goose 50,000, American black duck 7, Mallard 8, Northern pintail 6, Green-winged teal 10, Ring-necked duck 2, Bald eagle 2, Northern harrier 2, Rough-legged hawk 1, Killdeer 4, Ring-billed gull 6, Snowy owl 1, Tree swallow 3. Song sparrow 4. Red-winged blackbird 12, Common grackle 6, Brown-headed cowbird 7

Oie rieuse 1, Oie des neiges 300000, Oie de 2 de Ross, Bernache du Canada 50000, Canard noir 7, Canard colvert 8, Canard pilet 6, Sarcelle d'hiver 10, Fuligule à collier 2. Pygargue à tête blanche 2. Busard Saint-Martin 2, Buse pattue 1, Pluvier kildir 4, Goéland à bec cerclé 6, Harfang des neiges 1, Hirondelle bicolore 3, Bruant chanteur 4, Carouge à épaulettes 12, Quiscale bronzé 6, Vacher à tête brune 7