Bird Protection Quebec, Summer Series 2014 - Field trip #4 Report

13 people participated in Saturday's field trip to Ste-Martine, St-Etienne-de-Beauharnois and St-Timothee. The weather was very pleasant with a mix of sun and cloud, and mild with low humidity. All three locations produced a good selection of birds. The water level at Ste-Martine has dropped considerably, exposing a lot of rocks and vegetation; nice habitat for some shorebirds, ducks, terns, gulls and a very active Osprey. We took a long stroll along the bicycle path leading to one of the large ponds at St-Etienne. The fields leading to the pond produced large numbers of swallows, plus sparrows, bobolinks and even a few horned larks. In fact, for those who have commented on the low number of swallows this year, a visit to St-Etienne would help to comfort your concerns. Our last stop at St-Timothee provided one of the highlights of the day; brief sightings of no less than 3 Least Bitterns. However, St-Timothee also produced some of the puzzles of the day as we discovered a number of ducklings. Unfortunately we were confused as to exactly which species of ducklings we were observing. We weren't sure which duckings belonged to which parent birds! Very confusing.

All in all though, a nice mild summer day of birding with a nice collection of 56 species. A little depressing to see several very large flocks of red-winged blackbirds and starlings beginning their pre-fall migration activities...and it's not even August yet! Here is the list. Numbers, in many cases, are rough estimates. - Sheldon Harvey

Canada Goose 12 Wood Duck 4 American Wigeon 3 Mallard 80 Redhead 8 Ring-necked Duck 6 Hooded Merganser 3 Pied-billed Grebe 12 Double-crested Cormorant 4 Least Bittern 3
Great Blue Heron 24 Great Egret 4 Black-crowned Night Heron 2 Turkey Vulture 2 Osprey 1 Northern Harrier 1 Common Moorhen 3 Killdeer 8 Greater Yellowlegs 1 Lesser Yellowlegs 12 Spotted Sandpiper 14 Semipalmated Sandpiper 1 Least Sandpiper 1 Ring-billed Gull 80
Caspian Tern 1 Common Tern 30 Black Tern 12 Rock Pigeon 20 Mourning Dove 12 Chimney Swift 12 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1 Belted Kingfisher 3 Downy Woodpecker 3 Hairy Woodpecker 1 Eastern Kingbird 4 Warbling Vireo 1 American Crow 24 Horned Lark 8
Tree Swallow 300+ Bank Swallow 6 Barn Swallow 24 Marsh Wren 1 American Robin 25
Gray Catbird 1 European Starling 200+ Cedar Waxwing 10 Yellow Warbler 1 Common Yellowthroat 6 Chipping Sparrow 6 Savannah Sparrow 10 Song Sparrow 12 Bobolink 20
Red-winged Blackbird 300+ Common Grackle 12 American Goldfinch 15 House Sparrow 4

Bernache du Canada 12 Canard branchu 4 Canard d'Amérique 3 Canard colvert 80 Fuligule à tete rouge  8 Fuligule à collier 6 Harle couronné 3 Grèbe à bec bigarré 12 Cormoran à aigrettes 4 Petit Blongios 3 Grand héron 24 Grande aigrette 4 Bihoreau gris 2 Urubu à tête rouge 2 Balbuzard pêcheur 1 Busard Saint-Martin 1 Gallinule poule d'eau 3 Pluvier kildir 8 Grand Chevalier 1 Petit Chevalier 12 Chevalier grivelé 14 Bécasseau semipalmé 1 Bécasseau minuscule 1 Goéland à bec cerclé 80 Sterne caspienne 1 Sterne pierregarin 30 Guifette noire 12 Pigeon biset 20 Tourterelle triste 12 Martinet ramoneur 12 Colibri à gorge rubis 1 Martin-pêcheur 3 Pic mineur 3 Pic chevelu 1 Tyran tritri 4 Viréo mélodieux 1 Corneille d'Amérique 24 Alouette hausse-col 8 Hirondelle bicolore 300 + Hirondelle de rivage 6 Hirondelle rustique 24 Troglodyte des marais 1 Merle d'Amérique 25 Moqueur chat 1 Étourneau sansonnet 200 + Jaseur d'Amérique 10 Paruline jaune 1 Paruline masquée 6 Bruant familier 6 Bruant des prés 10 Bruant chanteur 12 Goglu des prés 20 Carouge à épaulettes 300 + Quiscale bronzé 12 Chardonneret jaune 15 Moineau domestique 4