Petrie Island & Quebec Marshes

Saturday, August 7, 2010 6:30 am

Today, Barbara & I joined Connie, Jane & Barb C. for a grand day of birding.
Petrie Island was alive with birds, and we had a hard time dragging ourselves away.
Highlights were the Marsh Wrens, Brown Creepers and Eastern Wood Pewees.

We also saw several Eastern Kingbirds, Red-winged Blackbirds, American Goldfinches. Wood Ducks, Mallards, Great Blue Herons, Barn Swallows and Song Sparrows. There was a Downy Woodpecker, a Hairy Woodpecker, a White-breasted Nuthatch and a pair of Belted Kingfishers. Jane saw a Wilson’s Snipe. We saw Yellow Warblers, American Redstarts, and at least one Black and White and Nashville Warbler. The ladies saw a Canada Warbler too. We heard a Warbling Vireo. There were several pairs of Baltimore Orioles and a bunch of juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers.
We finally tore ourselves away and took the Cumberland ferry to Masson. We went straight to the Marais des Grenouillettes, which Jane calls the Little Froggy Marsh. There was the usual assortment of sparrows and kingbirds on the road in. At the parking area Jane spotted a Bald Eagle overhead. A couple of guys arrived with a small boat, which they put in. They seemed to have no gear other than a sheet of plywood, so we are not sure what they were doing or where they went.

It was fairly quiet in the marsh. Barbara thought that the eagle might have scared all the birds off. There was also a small dark bird with pointy wings that flew over. That didn’t help either. We did see a few Cedar Waxwings, European Starlings and a Bobolink. We had a Belted Kingfisher fly past, and Barbara discovered some more Marsh Wrens in the dense vegetation. There were no Black Terns, which was somewhat surprising. After a lot of looking, we spotted a couple of immature Common Moorhens.

Next, we followed Jane back to Masson. There were a few destinations in mind, so they discussed it and made up their minds as we followed along. We went straight through to Thurso to check out the Parc Plaisance – Thurso Sector, which Barb C. called the Big Forggy Marsh. Unfortunately, the access road was blocked for some sort of town event, so we had to carry on towards Plaisance. We stopped at the picnic spot / overlook and had our lunch. The ladies wanted to go on to Montebello and cross over to the Alfred Lagoons, while we decided to stay on the Quebec side.

Birds seen at Parc Plaisance – Thurso Sector August 7, 2010 mid afternoon

Northern FlickerTurkey Vulture
Cedar Waxwing
Mallard
American Bittern
Eastern Kingbird
Tree Swallow
Pied-billed Grebe (juv)
Wilson’s Snipe
Great Blue Heron
Wood Duck
American Wigeon
Black Tern
Virginia Rail
Downy Woodpecker
American Crow
Gray Catbird
Ring-billed Gull

Birds seen at Marais des Laiches Est August 7, 2010 late afternoon

Eastern Kingbird
Song Sparrow
Bobolink
Northern Harrier
Common Moorhen (juv) American Coot
Wood Duck Mallard
American Bittern Green Heron European Starling
Ring-billed Gull