Late winter on D-ville

Cackling Goose Branta hutchinsii
(Standing on the right)

Wood Duck Aix sponsa

Greater Scaup Aythya marila

Northern Pintail Anas acuta
(in flight)

Bufflehead Bucephala albeola

Tufted Titmouse Baeolophus bicolour

Tufted Titmouse Baeolophus bicolour

Cedar Waxwing Bombycilla cedrorum

American Tree Sparrow Spizella arborea

Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus

CCGS Sipu Muin
(Coast Guard hovercraft)

Reserve Faunique Marguerite-D’Youville, Île Sainte-Bernard, Châteauguay, March 17, 2022

  Belated bird-venture news from D-ville. It was about 13 degrees (Celsius) and sunny for most of the day. After a long, ‘old-fashioned’ winter, it felt disorienting to be birding with no gloves or jacket. I ended up with sore calves and feet from moon-walking though slush all day.

  At least a thousand Canada Geese were resting on the water and ice along the west side. One of the geese sleeping on the edge of the ice looked half as large as the Canada Geese around it, and after waiting about ten minutes for it to pop its head up, it finally showed the tiny bill and neck of a Cackling Goose.

  There were also thousands (6,000ish) of Greater Scaup around in the waters off the island, with a few Lesser Scaup tucked in. Eleven species of waterfowl were logged in total.

  A Great Horned Owl was spotted sleeping in the crook of a tree, and it went unmolested by the legions of Black-capped Chickadees that percolated through the understory all around it.

  What else – small groups of Cedar Waxwings were moving though the mid-story trees, and several Killdeer calls were heard. A Great Black-backed Gull was seen swooping at Common Goldeneyes. The day ended with 38 species for the island.

  Around midday, two dudes in a “River Rat” speedboat zoomed and shrieked around through the ice, deliberately flushing the rafts of Scaup and Canada Goose repeatedly. A bit later, a massive Coast Guard hovercraft rumbled through the area, hopefully on a mission to scold the River Ratters. It looked like a similar model of hovercraft to the ones I saw in Korea.