HIGHLIGHTS FROM RECENT TRIPS
AND
THE TOP 10 SPECIES SEEN

Top 10 lists are voted upon by the participants at the completion of each tour.

 

GASPÉ PENINSULA of QUEBEC and COASTAL NEW BRUNSWICK
5-11 July 2006

 1) ATLANTIC PUFFIN--a group of four adults on the cliffs of Bonaventure Island among the thousands of nesting Black-legged Kittiwakes, Common Murres, and Northern Gannets.
 2) Ruffed Grouse--two separate family groups along the many miles of gravel road between Murdochville and the Chic-Choc Mountains.
 3) White-winged Crossbill--numerous sightings of males, females, and juveniles in the Chic-Chocs. They were singing almost constantly.
 4) Boreal Chickadee--great looks at a family group on Mount Saint Anne near Perce. The adults were feeding the fledged young.
 5) Common Merganser--the antics of six ducklings with their mother on Lac Paul was just about irresistible. Every time she dived for food, they swam like a fuzzy flotilla of jet skis.
 6) Northern Gannet--nearly 30,000 pairs nest on Bonaventure Island. The majority of pairs that we saw were caring for young.
 7) Piping Plover--we found at least four adults along the beach at Kouchibouguac National Park in New Brunswick.
 8) Sora--after seeing a family of Soras and Virginia Rails at the Sackville, NB Waterfowl Marsh, we taped an adult Sora in so close that it nearly stepped onto my shoe. It launched an all-out attack on the tape player.
 9) Common Loon--there was an adult on Lac Noire as a bull Moose swam the width of the lake.
10) Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow--a single adult sang from short woody growth at the edge of the salt marsh at Kouchibouguac.

Land mammals included an adult Porcupine in full view and numerous Snowshoe Hares in their brown summer pelage. We saw a total of eight Moose, including a calf nursing from its mother and a large bull swimming across a lake as a cow grazed along the shore. At sea we had excellent looks at Gray Seals, Minke, Fin-backed, and Humpbacked Whales, and FIVE Blue Whales, the largest mammal on Earth.

 


Send comments or questions about this web page to the WebMaster.