DATE: Saturday, August 22
TIME: 6:00 AM – Full day; combination driving/walking trip.

MEETING PLACE: The Hudson Inn parking lot in Hudson, Quebec - Exit 17 off of Highway 40. Please arrive early to be ready to depart at 6 AM sharp. We have about a 1-hour drive from Hudson to our first stop in St-Isidore, thus the need for the early start.

DRIVING INSTRUCTIONS: If you are planning on participating in the trip, the detailed route for the day is available in a file in the "Files" section of the Songsparrow Yahoo group. The document includes links to the individual sewage lagoon information pages. Click on "Files" on the menu bar of the group page. Look for the 2nd file “BPQ Driving Instructions”. Click on it and then click on the document “E. Ontario Sewage Lagoon trip August 22 2015.doc”. You can then print out a copy. If you aren’t part of the Yahoo Songsparrow Group, and would like a copy of the document, simply e-mail me and I will send you a copy.

ITINERARY: We will visit 4 different sewage lagoons; St- Isidore, St-Albert, Embrun and Casselman. We'll be looking particularly for shorebirds and marsh-dwellers, as well as raptors often seen surveying the lagoons. Various migrating songbirds should be present as well. The stops at St-Isidore and St-Albert will easily fill the morning. We'll break for lunch this trip at Tim Horton's in Embrun prior to heading on to the Embrun and Casselman Lagoons. Bring your lunch or pick up something at the lunch stop in Embrun.
This trip involves a lot of walking, 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. Please dress accordingly and bring along fluids and/or snacks. The grass can be quite wet, particularly early in the morning. Be equipped with suitable footwear. A couple of the lagoon sites have substantial amounts of ragweed present which may cause problems for people with allergy issues, 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 6 am. Should you arrive late, you will have time to catch up to us at our first stop in St-Isidore. 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 Harvey