Thursday, December 24, 2015

28 New Quebec Province Birds, November 2015



Having recently been bitten by the province listing bug, I had made 2 short trips into southern Quebec in the last year to work on my Quebec province list.  Since both trips had been in summer and fall, I needed to make at least one winter trip into Quebec to look for those colder weather species.  I spent some time on eBird downloading bar charts for the southern counties of Quebec and noticed that numbers of many of the “winter” waterfowl actually peak in mid-November, although the northern finches and owls would be more likely in mid-winter.  Of course it can be really cold in Quebec in mid-winter, so I decided a late fall trip would be a better option even if it meant missing out on some of those mid-winter specialties. 

Now I needed to come up with a plan.  I had a realistic list of 52 possible targets, which was way too long to focus on pursuit of individual species.  Instead it would be best to identify the best birding spots with the potential to find multiple targets.  To minimize travel time and maximize birding time I decided to cover areas directly north of VT – generally south and east of Montreal and Quebec City.  It was quite a daunting task with so many possible birding spots and such a long list of targets.  But since that was the area I birded on my last Quebec trip back in September, I was familiar with several of the good birding spots in the area like Lac Boivin and Parc National de la Yamaska.  Several of my targets had been reported on eBird at both locations so stops there made sense.  I also noticed that eBird posts from the northern end of Lake Champlain near Philipsburg included many target waterfowl.  And then I found numerous posts from along the Richelieu River just a short distance to the north, where the river was seemingly teeming with waterfowl.  A bit farther afield there were many reports from Reservoir Beaudet in Victoriaville with a number of waterfowl and gull targets, not to mention 50,000 Snow Geese.  And then there were my landbird targets, some of which had been reported at the George Montgomery Sanctuary in Philipsburg just across the border.  More than enough locations to come up with a multi-day itinerary.

Then there was a rarity to consider.  There were numerous posts about a Harlequin Duck on Riviere des Prairies on the northwest side of Montreal.  It was a long way to go for just one species, and directions weren’t too detailed (and of course in French).  So I wasn’t planning to try for it until I was able to get excellent micro-directions from local birder Joel Coutu.  And if I headed into Montreal I could try the nearby Cimitiere Mont Royal where the only semi-reliable Bohemian Waxwings in the area were being reported.  But the long side-trip and the urban driving still didn’t excite me much, so I decided to play it by ear based on how the rest of my day was going. 

All told that would be 2 full days of birding in the province.  Day 1 of my itinerary would start at dawn at Philipsburg, then I would work my way north up Lake Champlain, then the Richelieu River, and maybe a side-trip to Montreal.  Day 2 would start with landbirds at Lac Boivin, then over to nearby PN de la Yamaska, then up to Reservoir Beaudet.  Based on that itinerary I felt like I could add 15-20 new birds to my province list, though 26 would be a nice stretch goal since that would give me an even 150 for the province.  And starting at dawn in Quebec required a drive through VT the day before, so that would provide an opportunity for another try for Short-eared Owl in Addison, VT the evening before arriving in Quebec. 

Day 0 – VT

I arrived in northwest VT in the early afternoon, and given the strong northwesterly winds I decided to head to Charlotte Town Beach for a lakewatch.  But the only birds moving south were 2 Common Loons and 2 distant Eagle, sp. in NY.  Interestingly I had a Red-throated Loon and several Horned Grebes on the lake – 2 species I would miss in Quebec.  A couple subsequent stops on the lake were even slower, so I headed “inland” and spent some time at the goose viewing area watching thousands of Snows in the distance.  Then it was off to Gage Road in Addison, “the” best place for Short-ears in VT.  I arrived at 3:30, an hour before sunset, and stayed until complete darkness at 5:15, but had no luck with the Owls.  Even though others had an Owl there on subsequent evenings.  Hopefully my Quebec birding would go better.

Quebec Day 1

I started a bit before dawn at George MontgomerySanctuary in Philipsburg.  Or more precisely – mistakenly I started on private property just outside the sanctuary.  After about 15 minutes of hiking I realized my mistake, and made my way back to the car.  But on the way I added a calling Redpoll flying overhead (province bird #1), and a distant calling Carolina Wren (#2).  I eventually figured out how to access the north end of the sanctuary, and found a nice feeding station that included a Red-bellied Woodpecker (#3), and a small number of Titmice (#4), along with the Carolina Wren I heard earlier – that was all 3 of my “southern” target species in one stop.  I continued hiking a bit in the southern part of the sanctuary and found the first of several Tree Sparrows for the trip (#5).

Next it was on to the western edge of Philipsburg overlooking the northern tip of Lake Champlain.  The water was as smooth as glass, and there was almost no heat shimmer, providing excellent viewing conditions.  And although there were a lot of birds on the lake, unfortunately almost all were too distant to identify.  Distant Common Mergansers were barely identifiable only in flight (#6), and luckily a small group of Red-breasted Mergansers (#7) were a bit closer.  And although a flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls were identifiable in flight (#8), they were too far away to try to pick out any rarities that might be mixed in.  Lastly, 2 large flocks of Scaup numbering at least 1,000 birds were just too far away to identify, which was frustrating given that at least a few target Greaters were undoubtedly mixed in.

Far to the north I could see a number of waterfowl and gulls, so I drove a short distance north of Philipsburg to gain a different vantage.  Here I found the first of many flocks of Common Goldeneye for the day (#9), including one female Barrow’s (#10).  And a scan a bit farther to the north yielded the first of many Bufflehead (#11).  So although I added 6 new birds on the lake, I couldn’t find the loons, grebes, and scoters reported there recently.

The next stop was the northwest corner of Lake Champlain, but a quick scan yielded only a few Canada Geese and Bonaparte’s.  Since I was behind schedule I didn’t take any more time here, and instead headed for the highway for the short drive north toward Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu.  Highway 35 passed through some nice farming country which I told myself looked like a good area for raptors.  Right on cue I spotted a large buteo near the road that turned out to be a cooperative Rough-legged Hawk (#12), and a couple miles later I noticed a Red-tailed Hawk perched in a nearby tree (#13).  And just before leaving the farmlands and entering the city a flock of Horned Larks flew over the highway (#14).  That was a surprisingly fruitful stretch of highway!

Next it was on to the Richelieu River, where there were nearly a dozen eBird Hotspots from Saint Jean to Chambly.  I first picked out 2 stops along the Saint Jean waterfront that had large numbers of waterfowl in recent posts, and they did not disappoint.  First was Auberge Harris, named for the hotel next to the small roadside parking area.  Here I picked up my first Hooded Mergansers (#15 – at least 35 birds) among the 2,000 Canada Geese, 250 Goldeneye, 20 Common Mergs, 10 Red-breasted Mergs, and 20 Bufflehead.  I kept scanning through the birds not finding any rarities until I picked up a pair of large dark ducks in flight.  They eventually landed allowing me to identify them as a female Black Scoter (#16) and a female Surf Scoter (#17) – neither had been reported recently from this spot. 

I wanted to spend more time here combing through the Canada’s hoping for something rarer, but was running way behind time and instead headed a mile north to the next stop – Halte Cayer.  This spot featured 2,000 Snow Geese, 1,000 Canadas, at least 100 Goldeneye, and 3 sleeping Scaup sp., but nothing new for my list, though again I wished I had time to do a more detailed search through the geese. 

As I was making the drive north to my next stop at Fort Chambly I got a text from local birder Joel Coutu saying the Montreal Harlequin Duck was being seen most cooperatively.  But I was running pretty far behind schedule, so I wondered if I had time to try for it.  Then a quick scan of the Bassin de Chambly from Fort Chambly revealed very few waterfowl.  So with real-time updates on the Harlequin from Joel, I decided to skip my last 2 stops at Bassin de Chambly, and headed to Montreal to try for the Harlequin, and then to the cemetery to try for the Bohemians if there was enough time.

The Harlequin Duck first showed up at the Parc Nature de L’Ile de la Visitation in January 2015.  Although it was most frequently seen in rapids downriver of the main section of the park, in the last couple days it was being seen in a different stretch of rapids in the main part of the park.  Joel gave me excellent directions to this spot, and then suggested I just look for the photographers.  I successfully navigated the downtown Montreal streets, took the short walk to the proper part of the park, and could see at least a dozen photographers ahead along the river’s edge.  There was the male Harlequin swimming and diving in an area of small rapids among a flock of Canadas (#18).  I got these barely passable phonescoped photos of the bird – I’m sure the photographers with their long lenses got much better shots.



I hated to “bird and run”, but I wanted to try for the Bohemians, so I spent just a couple minutes with the Harlequin and then started to walk back to my car.  I had just climbed up from the river bank when I came upon several photographers with their lenses pointing up into the trees.  With a quick glimpse up into the bare branches I saw nothing at all.  But then I remembered Joel mentioning that this park was known for its Screech Owls.  So I looked closer and saw that one of the trees had a knot hole.  I set up my scope and sure enough there was a Screech Owl sleeping inside (#19).  Like I always say – “bird the birders”.


Both the Harlequin and the Screech Owl were bonus birds I wasn’t planning on, so this side-trip was a nice addition to my itinerary.

Next I was off to the Cimetiere Mont Royal to try for Bohemian Waxwings.  The eBird reports mentioned they were eating crabapples, so my plan was to look for the trees and then hope the Waxwings would be cooperative.  However, when I arrived at the cemetery I found crabapples everywhere, and all were full of fruit.  I spent the next 90 minutes wandering through the very nicely landscaped cemetery, finding 3 flocks of Robins numbering at least 100, but no Waxwings.  At one point I ran into another birder also looking for the Waxwings, but also unsuccessful.  Though he did just find a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers.  He pointed me in the direction where he last saw them, and I was able to refind both birds (#20).  A nice consolation for not finding the Waxwings.

That gave me 20 new Quebec province birds – already the high end of my hoped for total and I still had another day of birding ahead of me. 

Quebec Day 2

I started the day pre-dawn at Centre d’Interpretation de la Nature du Lac Boivin, a very nice park with varied habitats that I visited back in September.  First I took a walk through wet brushy habitat hoping for targets like sparrows, Rusty Blackbird, and Siskins.  But I could only find a few Tree Sparrows and Goldfinches.  Next I checked out some vantage points on the lake hoping to find a Cackling Goose reported earlier but with no luck.  With slow birding here I moved on to a nearby park where a flock of Snow Buntings had been reported two days earlier, but I came up empty once again.  It could only pick up from here, right? 

The next stop was Parc National de le Yamaska – another spot I birded in September.  Recent reports from the lake at the park had included Common and Red-throated Loons, Red-necked Grebes, Scoters, and Long-tailed Ducks, so I was optimistic I would pick up a number of targets.  Soon after I started scanning the lake I spotted the first of 4 Common Loons (#21), but I couldn’t turn any into their slimmer Red-throated cousins.  Then I noticed a pair of sleeping waterfowl in the distance that I eventually concluded were Red-necked Grebes (#22) – I would end up finding another pair elsewhere on the lake.  Two nice finds, but otherwise the lake just held a few of the expected Common Mergansers, Goldeneye, and Bufflehead. 

Next I took a short walk through the woods to the secondary dam to the northwest, which on my September trip had good numbers of gulls, waterfowl, and shorebirds.  And although there were a number of waterfowl and gulls there on this trip, there was nothing unusual.  As I was packing up my scope to head back I heard what sounded like a bugling call somewhere overhead.  Was it a Sandhill Crane?  I stood still and listened intently – there was the call again.  It was indeed a Crane!  (#23)  I ended up hearing it call 5 times, but not unlike other flyover Cranes, I could never spot it as it undoubtedly flew high overhead.  Nice to find a write-in on eBird.

With birding picking up, I was off to Reservoir Beaudet in Victoriaville.  Although I would have preferred not to have to take a long 90-minute ride to the next stop, eBird posts made this location seem like a must stop.  The reservoir featured a large flock of Snow Geese, with recent posts including targets such as Ross’ Goose, Brant, Cackling Goose, Ruddy Duck, and Iceland and Glaucous Gulls.  When I pulled up to the lake I was shocked by what I saw – Snow Geese as far as you could see covering nearly the entire surface of this small reservoir.


Other birders there that day estimated 80,000 Snow Geese on the lake.  Yet despite these large numbers, no one could pick out a Ross’ Goose that day.  Or maybe I should say because of these large numbers, no one found a Ross’ – picking out a smaller white goose in a sea of larger white geese is no easy task.  But there were at least 2 Cackling Geese in the flock, including these small Richardson’s Cackling Geese (#24). 





After looking at the latter 2 photos of the Cackling Goose I noticed two small immature white geese in the foreground - both are very small compared to the adult Snow Geese nearby, and quite a bit paler than the immature white goose to the right.  Although they are sleeping so you can't see the shape of the head and bill, the small size and paler coloration suggests that they are Ross's (#25). 

At the far end of the lake I noticed a number of gulls flying in, landing briefly to bathe, and then flying out.  In between scans of the white geese I would check out the gulls and picked out an adult and a 1st year Lesser Black-backed (unfortunately not new for my Quebec list), but could not locate the Iceland and Glaucous that had been reported here in previous days. 

I also spent some time looking for diving ducks on the lake, hoping to find the Ruddy Ducks reported earlier.  The far end of the lake had a number of Common Mergansers and Goldeneye, but nothing else of interest.  And among the white geese I only found a single female Lesser Scaup.  That is until a kayaker appeared on the lake and flushed the entire flock of geese, making for this amazing scene.


With all the geese in the air, I looked back on the lake where the flock had been swimming and noticed several diving ducks.  Amazingly the ducks had not taken off with the geese.  The first bird I looked at was a female White-winged Scoter (#26) – a bird not reported recently at the reservoir.  And a few seconds later I spotted a single Ruddy Duck (#27).  And scanning further I found a flock of 4 Scaup – 1 of which was a female Greater (#28).  It was great to finally be able to tick this one off my list after having seen so many “Scaup, sp.” earlier in the trip.  All these ducks had undoubtedly been mixed in with the geese the whole time I was there.  But despite all my scanning I was only able to find one Lesser Scaup among the larger geese, even though one would think the dark ducks would stand out among all those white geese. 

It was now mid-afternoon, and with a long drive home in front of me, I decided to start heading south, very happy with my results.  Although I only had 62 species on the trip, 28 were new for the province list.  That was way over my expected 15-20, and even over my stretch goal of 26, increasing my Quebec list to 152.  My species list in Canada increased by 6 to 277, while my total ticks in Canada is now 794.  Both are pretty meager totals, but with 40 new species and 379 new ticks in Canada in 2015, it’s a big improvement.

The next (and perhaps last) opportunity to add a significant number of birds to my Quebec list would be to a make a late spring/early summer trip to look for breeding landbirds.  With over 30 regular breeders in southern Quebec as potential targets, a 2 or 3-day trip might be worthwhile in May 2016.  Then there are still all those winter finches and owls that I missed on this November trip…

No comments:

Post a Comment