Bird Protection Quebec "Monthly Lecture, Meeting"

Kensington Presbyterian Church, 6225 Godfrey Ave., Montreal, NDG
Monday, January 5 - 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Charlie Vogt will talk about the advantages of birding in Ecuador, providing an overview of the different regions and tours with a highlight on Southern Ecuador. He will outline the factors and the history that led to such a high species diversity in Ecuador.

Charlie Vogt is the owner of Andean Birding. A native of Boston, he studied biology at Colorado College, and has an MS from Northern Arizona U. He spent twelve summers in Mexico at his father’s Harvard-Chiapas Project – the first summer was with BPQ Board member Nick Acheson – and later worked at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, in Cambridge, MA. In 1990, he directed a highway EA in Ecuador and was hooked. He has guided at Sacha Lodge and with Wilderness Travel in Amazonia and the Galapagos. He has birded since 1974 and has lived in Ecuador for 26 years, doing environmental consulting, teaching tropical ecology to study-abroad students, conducting bird surveys and preparing bird lists for foundations and protected areas in Ecuador and Bolivia. He led two ornithological expeditions to Volcan Sumaco. He found a new bird species for Ecuador and has published on bird behaviour and range extensions. The Banded Ground-Cuckoo was his 1,400th species for Ecuador. His list is now at 1,421. He is an active bird sound recordist with over 640 recordings on Xeno-canto and 42 tracks on Bird sounds of Ecuador – a comprehensive collection by John V. Moore et al.


Travels to Trinidad and Tobago
Presenter: Christine C. Lengvari

Christine Lengvari started birding in South Africa while living in Durban on the Indian Ocean. She has travelled extensively and been on many birding holidays to several exotic destinations: Amazon, Antarctica, Australia, Borneo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Galapagos, and Trinidad and Tobago. T&T is located in the southern Caribbean, just off the east coast of Venezuela. It is a tropical paradise, with a rich biodiversity. It is an outstanding birding destination with both endemic and migratory birds and bird count of over 200. In Trinidad, most travellers stay at Asa Wright Nature Centre, where you don’t have to leave the viewing gallery to enjoy exotic birds to your heart’s content. The estate is famous for the leks of the white-bearded and golden-headed manakins, the bearded bellbird and the nocturnal oilbird. Tobago is just a short stop away, with a variety of different birds and beautiful beaches.

Christine C. Lengvari trained as a chartered accountant and now continues the family business: Lengvari Financial Inc., which provides retirement and estate financial planning. She is an insurance specialist.


From the Sea to the Sky
Presenter: Frédéric Hareau

Discover the incredible richness of birdlife in Peru. Frédéric Hareau will present some of the highlights of his recent trip to Peru: the richness of coastal islands and deserts blooming with flowers, the mighty condor and birding specialties of the high Andes, and the stunning biodiversity of the rain forest and Amazonia, along the legendary Manu Road.

Frédéric Hareau is an active member of the Conservation Committee, a popular field trip leader, and a director. He coordinated the SOSPOP project with BPQ in 2010 and is kept busy with translation for The Song Sparrow and the Web site. He has also done extensive work in conservation for the COA and volunteers at McGill Bird Observatory. At a professional level, he oversees projects implemented in 17 countries and reaching over 1,000 young people every year. These projects focus on the conservation of the environment in Canada and throughout the world. In the past ten years, he has played a leadership role in fundraising over $6 million with the support of co-workers and partners. He has a degree in biology and agriculture, from the Institut National Agronomique of Paris- Grignon, France.


Newfoundland’s Gros Morne National Park, the Great Northern Peninsula and Labrador
Presenter: Richard Gregson

An introduction to birding, rare arctic flowering and exciting whale-watching in the northern peninsula of Newfoundland, including Gros Morne National Park and Labrador. A less-visited part of the province, which is highly recommended for the range of accessible northern birding that can be enjoyed far from the crowds of everyday tourists but close to the world’s best lobster suppers.

Richard Gregson, Past President of Bird Protection Quebec, is currently a BPQ director, Chair of the Sanctuaries Committee, and Webmaster. He is a biologist with a keen interest in birding – especially greenbirding. He maintains a website for people interested in this alternative way to go birding at www.greenbirding.ca and is the author of a book on the subject called, what else, Green Birding .


Birding in Namibia
(Time permitting)
Presenter: Nick Acheson

Namibia lies along the Atlantic coast between South Africa and Angola. Its lowlands are mostly desert, but the northeastern Caprivi Strip, between Angola and Botswana, is more humid. Etosha Park abounds in large mammals, easily seen at water holes. A recent 18 day trip produced 374 bird species, including several endemics, as well as 46 mammals.

Nick Acheson is a BPQ director and co-Chair of the of the Philipsburg Project Group. He was an avid birdwatcher from the age of ten until other things like work and family took over in his twenties. He finished a Ph.D. in virology at Rockefeller University, spent ten years doing research on viruses in Switzerland and France, and moved to Montreal in 1980, where he joined the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University. Upon his retirement in 2005, he found time to revive his interest in birds. He also wrote/edited a new textbook on viruses for undergraduate university students.