We started with a couple of days in Montreal and visited the waterfront area and Mount Royal. The waterfront area had some derelict areas and I was pleased to see a small group of Cedar Waxwings feeding in some scrubby bushes. Mount Royal was busy with people but there were a few warblers, such as Magnolia Warbler and Black throated Green Warbler plus Turkey Vultures over the St Lawrence River.
We travelled on to the Baie de St Catherine area for some whale-watching in the Saguenay Fjord, then across the river to stay at St Anne des Monts. New birds for me were Black crowned and Boreal Chickadees, Song Sparrow, a pair of duelling Broad-winged Hawks, plus Surf Scoters viewed on the journey across.
Ruby crowned Kinglet, Savannah Sparrow and Rusty Blackbird were new birds seen in the Gaspesie National Park.
On to Perce, probably the birding highlight of the trip. Just off shore on Bonaventure Island is one of the biggest Gannet colonies in the world. There were once up to 120,000 of them. Although there are fewer now, the cliffs are still packed and also house Kittiwakes and Double-crested Cormorants. A boat trip out is a must.
There are huge rafts of ducks in the St Lawrence River. Most of these seem to be Harlequins or Eider. There are also rafts of seabirds such as Guillemot and Black Guillemot. These can be seen from the boardwalk in the town and the beach hosted Semi-palmated Plover and Semi-palmated Sandpiper. A pair of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds graced some flowers.
Just in land from Perce town is a nature reserve with a lagoon. Here we saw Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and Belted Kingfisher.
Our trip finished in Quebec City. I'm always just happy to sit in the park and see what turns up - Brown Creeper, Cape May Warbler, White-throated Sparrow and more Cedar Waxwings in this case.
We only saw 47 species that I was able to positively identify but 21 of those were new to me.
We travelled on to the Baie de St Catherine area for some whale-watching in the Saguenay Fjord, then across the river to stay at St Anne des Monts. New birds for me were Black crowned and Boreal Chickadees, Song Sparrow, a pair of duelling Broad-winged Hawks, plus Surf Scoters viewed on the journey across.
Ruby crowned Kinglet, Savannah Sparrow and Rusty Blackbird were new birds seen in the Gaspesie National Park.
On to Perce, probably the birding highlight of the trip. Just off shore on Bonaventure Island is one of the biggest Gannet colonies in the world. There were once up to 120,000 of them. Although there are fewer now, the cliffs are still packed and also house Kittiwakes and Double-crested Cormorants. A boat trip out is a must.
There are huge rafts of ducks in the St Lawrence River. Most of these seem to be Harlequins or Eider. There are also rafts of seabirds such as Guillemot and Black Guillemot. These can be seen from the boardwalk in the town and the beach hosted Semi-palmated Plover and Semi-palmated Sandpiper. A pair of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds graced some flowers.
Just in land from Perce town is a nature reserve with a lagoon. Here we saw Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and Belted Kingfisher.
Our trip finished in Quebec City. I'm always just happy to sit in the park and see what turns up - Brown Creeper, Cape May Warbler, White-throated Sparrow and more Cedar Waxwings in this case.
We only saw 47 species that I was able to positively identify but 21 of those were new to me.
