Bird Protection Quebec field trip report, Saturday October 29

Once again this week rain put a bit of a damper on the BPQ field trip, this time to the Centre d'interprétation de Nature du lac Boivin (CINLB), in Granby, QC. Darlene and I headed out in heavy rain early this morning wondering how many people would be discouraged by the weather. As it turned out, just about everyone was, except for "Loyal George", who braved the rain and joined us on a sometimes wet, sometimes not, walk around the park. Rainy days have often been referred to as "great weather for ducks". That held true this morning as the majority of the birds were seen from the observation tower overlooking Lac Boivin where we were treated to very healthy numbers of ducks and geese. The rest of the park was quite quiet and we had to work hard to come up with a total of 22 species for the day. We were confused by a raptor perched on a snag out on the lake; a medium sized bird with what looked to be an almost completely white cap on its head! The distance, rainy conditions, and a wet scope and binoculars made it impossible for us to get a definite ID on the bird. Definitely not an eagle or osprey, but most confusing with the white head marking. Unfortunately we looked away for a brief moment and the bird took flight and disappeared into the fog and rain.

Here is our list of 22 species for the day. Thanks to George for joining up with us for the morning.- Sheldon Harvey

Canada Goose 100+, Gadwall 12, American Wigeon 30, American Black Duck , 10, Mallard 15, Blue-winged Teal 2, Northern Shoveler 5, Green-winged Teal 8, Hooded Merganser 100+, Pied-billed Grebe 2, Great Blue Heron 1, Hawk (sp) 1, Ring-billed Gull 500+, Mourning Dove 3, Downy Woodpecker 2, Blue Jay 4, American Crow 6, Common Raven 2, Black-capped Chickadee 100+, White-breasted Nuthatch 30, Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1, American Goldfinch 2

Bernache du Canada 100+, Canards chipeaux 12, Canard d'Amérique 30, Canard noir, 10, Canard colvert 15, Sarcelle à ailes bleues 2, Canard souchet 5, Sarcelle d'hiver 8, Harle couronné 100+, Grèbe à bec bigarré 2, Grand héron 1, Buse (sp) 1, Goéland à bec cerclé 500+, Tourterelle triste 3, Pic mineur 2, Geai Bleu 4, Corneille d'Amérique 6, Grand Corbeau 2, Mésange à tête noire 100+, Sittelle à poitrine blanche 30, Roitelet à couronne rubis 1, Chardonneret jaune 2