Summer Series of Birding - Field Trip #4 - Saturday, July 26

This Saturday we will do a visit to some old favourite spots in Sainte-Martine, St-Etienne de Beauharnois and St-Timothee, on the south shore. This will be a combination of a driving and walking trip.

Date: Saturday, July 26, 2014
Time: 8 am
Meeting spot: The new observation platform at the dam located at rue du Pont and St-Jean-Baptiste (Highway 138) in Sainte-Martine, Quebec - see Google map http://goo.gl/maps/kbi4O
Duration: Half-day, combination driving/walking trip
NOTES: Spotting scopes will be very helpful on this trip.

Directions to meeting spot: There are two main routes that can be used.

1) Using Mercier Bridge: Cross Mercier Bridge from Montreal. Stay right off the bridge and take Highway 138 through Kahnawake, Chateauguay, Mercier and in to Sainte-Martine. In the town of Sainte-Martine, look for a Subway restaurant on the right. This is just before arriving at rue du Pont. Turn right on rue du Pont, cross the narrow bridge over the Chateauguay River and there will be a new welcome centre and a row of parking spots on the right. This is the meeting spot.
2) Using Highway 30: coming from either direction on Highway 30 take Exit 26 for Ste-Martine-ch. de la Beauce (Highway 205). Take Highway 205 south towards Sainte-Martine. Follow Highway 205 into Sainte-Martine and turn right on to Highway 138 (rue St-Jospeh). Follow Highway 138 to rue du Pont. Turn right on rue du Pont, cross the narrow bridge over the Chateauguay River and there will be a new welcome centre and a row of parking spots on the right. This is the meeting spot.

ITINERARY: We will start at the new observation platform overlooking the Chateauguay River in Sainte-Martine, looking for waterfowl, early shorebirds, songbirds, etc.
From Sainte-Martine we will follow country backroads to St-Etienne-de-Beauharnois. Here we will park at the entrance to a new stretch of bike path and walk over to the ponds. This is a fairly new access point to the ponds at St-Etienne, not the old access point from the farm at the end of St-Joseph which some of you may be familiar with. Here we will be looking for waterfowl, marsh birds, grassland species and songbirds.
From St-Etienne we will drive to the marshes at St-Timothee. Here we will be using the bike path to cross the marsh down towards the edge of the Beauharnois Canal. There is also an observation tower on this path. Here we will again be looking for waterfowl, marsh birds, songbirds, etc.
Along the route between locations, we may stop from time to time at interesting spots in the farmland areas where grassland birds may be present.

Should you need to reach me on the morning of the field trip, please call 514-637-2141. For any questions regarding the trip, please contact me by phone at 450-462-1459 or by e-mail.

Sheldon Harvey