Matt's Trip to Northern Quebec

Matt Medler, a former BSI-staffer, was a guest blogger for this blog during his trip to Northern Ontario earlier this summer. Since so many of you enjoyed his trip reports, I thought I'd share his trip from a few years ago to Northern Quebec. He took some great photos and audio recordings, some of which are included here.

Bug Shirt in Action
Credit: Matt Medler

Here's an excerpt of what Matt wrote shortly after returning from Northern Quebec:

The unquestioned birding highlight of my trip occurred near a small lake near km 179 of the road. Attracted by the lake, I stopped along the side of the road, where I instantly saw a Bonaparte's Gull flying over the lake. Scanning the area, I quickly found another Bonaparte's perched near the top of a spruce tree. Knowing that this gull (one of my favorites) nests in spruces in the Boreal, I looked for signs of nesting, but the second bird quickly flew from the tree and there was no sign of a nest where it was perched. Eventually, these two birds were joined by three other adult Bonaparte's Gulls on the small lake, where they spent nearly an hour foraging and resting on the water. At various times, the gulls were also "joined" by a single Tree Swallow, which was quite persistent in harassing individual gulls, eliciting loud, tern-like shrieks from the gulls. I watched this behavior for quite some time, and was even able to record some of the gull vocalizations. Near the end of my stay at the edge of the lake, a family group of Gray Jays came in to investigate my presence, before quickly moving on. At the same time, I heard a kip-like call that I was ready to attribute to a Black-backed Woodpecker, but when I located the bird, I clearly saw the white-barred back of an American Three-toed Woodpecker. At almost exactly the same time, a group of about 10 White-winged Crossbills flew overhead, chattering.

Finally, as I tried to pull myself back to the car, a Common Raven flew over, prompting the Bonaparte's Gulls to veer away from the lake and begin harassing the raven. All of this took place with the persistent songs of Fox Sparrow and Tennessee Warbler off in the distance. Besides being a great birding moment, it was also a great reminder of why I was thereâ€”more than 80% of the populations of Bonaparte's Gull, Gray Jay, American Three-toed Woodpecker, White-winged Crossbill, and Tennessee Warbler rely on the Boreal for breeding.

Bonaparte's Gull
Credit: Matt Medler