TAVERNER CUP 2003 FIELD NOTES

Ontario Birding

There is a heavy emphasis on certain sites such as Algonquin and Presqu'ile Provincial Parks, Carden Alvar, Chaffey's Locks, and the Embrun and Alfred sewage lagoons. The fact is that birders with limited time, who intend to stick to Ontario, and maximize their species total, concentrate on these premier sites.

Birders living in Ottawa often start in the Richmond Fen or Gatineau Park and then proceed to via the Madawaska Highlands to Algonquin to arrive in the pre-dawn. They then drive via Highway 62 stopping at the Springbrook Alvar before proceeding to Presqu'ile, and then on to Chaffeys, briefly visiting the Ottawa area, before proceeding to the sewage lagoons in eastern Ontario. Other Ottawa birders have started in the Peterborough area, include a night visit to Carden then proceed to Algonquin, Presqu'ile, Chaffeys etc.

Birders living west of the Taverner boundary in the Toronto, Hamilton, and Barrie areas usually start at Carden and proceed to Algonquin, then to Presqu'ile, Chaffeys and points east. The attraction of Carden occasionally encourages some teams to come back for a second visit for field birds after Algonquin but this makes it difficult to visit eastern Ontario. One option is to substitute the Haliburton Highlands for Algonquin but their list of boreal birds inevitably suffers.

There are many other fine sites mentioned in the summary

Algonquin offers by far the maximum variety of boreal birds. Presqu'ile is the best place for the many lingering waterfowl. It also has the best selection of beach-loving shorebirds. Presqu'ile also continues to be an excellent migrant trap and is the only reliable place for Mute Swan and Orchard Oriole. It is the most important single birding site in eastern Ontario. Carden Alvar and smaller but important alvars at Springbrook (SW of Madoc) and Newburgh (north of Napanee) are excellent places for field birds, including shrike. Yellow Rail is usually reliable at Carden and regular at the Richmond Fen but the fen is difficult to access. Chaffeys has the best concentration of Carolinean-type forest birds with nesting Gnatcatcher, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Yellow-throated Vireo, Golden-winged and Cerulean Warblers. Louisiana Waterthrush is reguarly found on the Canoe Lake Road and occasionally at Chaffeys..

Embrun and the KFN property at Amherst Island are the most reliable places for Wilson's Phalaropes. St. Isadore Lagoon is often excellent for ducks and shorebirds, and occasionally for sparrows. Alfred is likely the best sewage lagoon in eastern Canada. It is always worth a visit as its range of waterfowl and shorebirds is usually very different from Presqu'ile. Alfred Bog, the largest peat bog in central and southern Ontario, is located nearby. Birders should be aware of limited access at sewage lagoons.

Specialty birds such as Sandhill Cranes nest at Carden and at the Mer Bleu (Ottawa) and Alfred Bogs. Clay-coloured Sparrows are widely distributed and best sought at alvars and at small Christmas tree plantations which dot the landscape of eastern Ontario.

For owling, some of the best spots for owls are provincial parks in the Peterboro area, the Madawaska Highlands between Renfrew and Whitney, the Richmond Fen-Munster area, SW of Ottawa, and the Alfred Bog area of far eastern Ontario. There are few reliable sites for LE and SE Owls. For LE try the Richmond-Munster area SW of Ottawa and the Madawaska Highlands. For SE try Carden, the KFN property on Amherst Island, and the Ducks Unlimited property, Atocas Bay, NE of Alfred..

Finally eastern Ontario has two excellent migrant traps: Prince Edward Point at the far east end of Lake Ontario, near Picton, and Presqu'ile Provincial Park, near Brighton. Prince Edward Point on occasion can be just as good as Point Pelee but the range of habitats and vegetation is nowhere near as extensive. As a result migrants are less inclined to linger. Prince Edward Point is likely the best candidate for habitat enhancement in all of Ontario. While it is well worth a visit, its location makes it difficult to include in a 24 hour event like the Taverner Cup. Presqu'ile is not as geographically well positioned for migrants as Prince Edward, but has much better habitat. As a result it tends to retain birds longer. Since it has cottages within the Park with bird feeders, and considerably more birder-traffic in the migratory seasons, it turns up just as many rarities as Prince Edward Point. The bird sightings board at Presqu'ile can also be of great assistance in providing information but be warned that not all records are accurate!

Quebec

For teams who start in Montreal or Gatineau, and intend to bird partly or entirely in Quebec, there are many excellent sites. The Taverner boundary includes more territory in Quebec than Ontario and Quebec teams can easily cross the border at Hawkesbury or Gatineau to hand in their lists at the Fletcher Garden in downtown Ottawa.

Species found only in Quebec include Bicknell's Thrush (Mont Tremblant Park) and Sharp-tailed Sparrow (Isle aux Fermiers and adjacent islands in the St. Lawrence River).

Generally-speaking many Quebec birding areas are even more under-birded than those of eastern Ontario, thus materials available to birders tend to be less. This is compounded by the fact that there are two widely-used languages: English and French. Published materials are more often available in French which makes it harder on visiting English-speakers.

There are numerous routes possible for Montreal area birders. They could start in the Dundee or Huntington areas and proceed north through Montreal to Mont Tremblant for the pre-dawn. Another option is to start in Montreal or Plaisance and go north to Tremblant.

After Tremblant teams can come back to the Ottawa lowlands before crossing into eastern Ontario in the early afternoon. Another option after Tremblant is to stay in Quebec for most of the day by proceeding south to the heronry at the Lachine Rapids and then the St. Etienne or St. Timothee Marshes, on to Huntington and/or Dundee, before proceeding into eastern Ontario and on to Ottawa. On June 2, 2003, Tom Hince and Paul Pratt broke the Quebec Big Day record of 161 with a total of 166. Their route from midnight to 8:00 PM included: Plaisance, Mont Tremblant Park, Mirabel area, Lachine Rapids, St. Timothee, Huntington and Dundee, covering only about 450 miles. Some variation on this strategy which fitted in the sewage lagoons and field birds of eastern Ontario before proceeding to Ottawa would make any Quebec team very competitive.

For Gatineau birders who bird within the Outaouais birding district there are many sites from Quyon to Plaisance along the Ottawa River ranging north to Otter Lake, Maniwaki and LaVerendrye Park and Papineau-Labelle Faunal Reserve.

For boreal birds in Quebec LaVerendrye and especially Mont Tremblant Parks are recommended. Indeed the Hince-Pratt Big Day species found in Mont Tremblant Park included: Common Goldeneye, Hooded and Common Merganser, Black-backed Woodpecker, Boreal Chickadee, Gray Jay, Olive-sided, Yellow-bellied, and Alder Flycatchers, Philadelphia Vireo, Wilsons and Palm Warblers, Fox and Lincolns Sparrows, White-winged Crossbill, Pine Siskin and Evening Grosbeak. This impressive list indicates that Tremblant may well offer a larger variety of boreal species that Algonquin. The faunal reserve at Papineau-Labelle also is worth further inspection.

For late-migrating waterfowl there are numerous spots along the Ottawa River, and Lake of Two Mountains and the St. Lawrence River near Montreal. There are no true alvars in Quebec, consequently Loggerhead Shrikes do not breed in the province. There are many good locations for wetland field birds such as Dundee in extreme SW Quebec, for Yellow Rail and Sedge Wren. Sparrows and other field birds can be reliably found in fields south of Montreal, at Mirabel and Lachute, in the West Aylmer-Eardley area, and near Vinton (west of Quyon). Gray Partridge can be found at select sites especially within the Montreal and Gatineau urban communities.

Because of different environmental legislation, there are few sewage lagoons in Quebec. An exception is is the one at Masson, east of Gatineau. Premier marshes are found at Dundee, St. Timothee and St. Etienne (SE of Valleyfield), in the St. Lawrence Islands off the east end of Montreal, and at Plaisance. They are excellent for ducks and marsh birds. Recording shorebirds is very difficult outside the St. Lawrence Islands.

There is a major heronry in downtown Montreal which can be seen from the Lachine Rapids Park in Lasalle and from the St. Catherine Lock on the south shore. Birders will find large numbers of Great Blue Heron and BC Night-Heron, and a small colony of American Egrets. Within the boundary one of the few places to look for Carolinean-type forest birds is in the Hemmingford and Huntington areas, south of Montreal near the American border. With scouting Yellow-throated Vireo and GW and Cerulean Warblers will be found. The Champlain Lookout in Gatineau Park has also been a good place for Gatineau area birders.

For mixed and hardwood forest birds birders have many choices all over the province including Dundee, Huntington and Hemmingford in the SW, the Morgan Arboretum and the Montreal Regional Parks system, the parks around the Oka area, the St. Lazare Pinery, the huge deciduous forest of the Bois Belle Riviere near St. Augustin, and the Centre Tourestique and Educatif Forestier near St. Faustin in the Laurentians.

For owls there are many excellent sites. SE Owls nest every year on the islands in the St. Lawrence River. Barred and Horned Owls are widespread throughout the Montreal and Gatineau areas, Saw-whet Owls can be found in mixed forest areas of the uplands of the Chateauguay River , and in the Laurentian foothills. LE Owls have been known to nest in the lower Laurentians but probably breed in the forested aeas in the SW as well. Screech Owls are much more common in southern Quebec than eastern Ontario and the Ottawa Valley. They can be found in suitable habitat SW and south of Montreal and in most parks in downtown Montreal especially Summit, Mont Royal and Angrignon Parks, and throughout the older suburbs, and in the regional parks.

Sandhill Cranes continue their eastward range extension and are turning up in wetlands along the St. Lawrence and Richelieu Rivers. They are likely breeding. Clay-coloured Sparrows are much rarer than in eastern Ontario but can occasionally be found in Laval and the St. Augustin area near Mirabel. Field and Vesper Sparrows are also less common than in eastern Ontario but can be found in suitable habitats in the Ottawa River lowlands in the same area. Grasshopper Sparrows are sparse but have been recorded in fields south of the Montreal.

Because of the geography of western Quebec, there are few migrant traps. In the Montreal area Mont Royal Park, and in particular, Summit Park, just to the west in Westmount, are excellent

Owling and Tape Playing in General

Tape playing is not permitted in the Taverner Cup. For owls, birders that rely entirely on hearing the birds at night might be disappointed. It is best to go to reliable areas and try imitating owl calls to encourage them to respond. Don't forget to imitate Screech Owl which seems to be a magnet for many owl species! You can also bring owls to you by "squeaking" them in.