The Autumn Migration August 1-November 30, 1987
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CONTINENTAL SURVEY TheAutumn Migration August1--November 30, 1987 NORTHEASTERN MARITIME REGION We regretthat at presstime, we hadnot receivedthe NortheasternMaritime Regional Report. QUEBEC REGION Michel Gosselin,Richard Yank, and Yves Aubry ugustsouth,weather warm andwas wetgenerally in the north.cool andSeptember dry in was the mild throughoutthe province,but particularly in northern Quebec. It was wetter than normal along most of the St. LawrenceValley and in the extreme north, and this pre- cipitationpattern extended through to the endof the peried. While easternQuebec continued relatively mild in October, the western one-half of the Region averagedas much as 2øC below normal. Except for central Quebec, November temperatureswere below average. LOONS THROUGH WATERFOWL--Migrant Red- throatedLoons were widely reportedin s.w. Quebec;24 inland at VictoriavilleNov. 9 (AC} constitutedthe largestconcentra- tion. An ad. Pacific Loon, still displayingtraces of alternate plumage,was sightedfrom the Matone ferry Nov. 14 {MLa, JPO}.Two N. Fulmarswere seenoff Matone Oct. 25 (DT, GLm} and one remainedthere Nov. 14 0PO, MLa};one spotted from Cattle Egretsstaged a minor invasionOct. 10-28 with a total shoreat L•vis Nov. 8 (GLm}was exceptionallyfar west.Both of 11 birds observedat E. Stanstead(f•de CCh), Victoriaville rare and recordlate was a SootyShearwater off Bergeronnes (JPet o].},Quebec City (RLa},Amqui (LP},Anse-•-Valleau (HC}, Oct. 25 (AB}. The American White Pelican first reportedat and Havre-Saint-Pierre(GSi, SP}. Rimouski hosted the Region's Sept-liesin the summerwas last seenSept. 20 {BDe},2 days 6th Yellow-crownedNight-Heron, a well-describedimmature, after the openingof the hunting season.Visiting birders en- Sept.I (DR, GG).A PJegadisibis, for which there are few fall ceuntereda TricoloredHeron at Pasp&liacJune 28 (GBa,MNV). records,was presentat Maple-GroveSept. 23 (RBo}. Volume 42, Number ! 45 that stoppednear Ladysmithfor 2 weeksin August(TB) pro- vlded our only fall report from s. Quebec SingleWillets were observedat Pointe-au-P•reAug. 11 (AB, JI et al.) and I. Saint-OursSept. 3 (CM, BC). Inland recordsof HudsonJanGodwits in s.w. Quebec included two at Victoria- ville Oct. 21-23 (AC, MGr), one at Aylmer Oct. 22 and Nov 2 (PTo), and two in the Montreal area (DES), while a Marbled Godwitstrayed to Pointe-LebelAug. 22-23 (GC).Lone juv W Sandpiperspaused at BouchervilleAug. 8 (FB) and Quebec City Sept.11-20 (GLm,CS, CV). PurpleSandpipers were more frequentlyreported than usualin w. Quebec,with up to 12 at Saint-FulgenceOct. 12-Nov. 7 (JI et al.), two at Saint-Pierre- les-BecquetsOct. 30 (DJa),and one on I. Perrot the next day (PM et al.). Followinga goodfall showingby the species,a Stilt Sandpiperlingered at Bouchervilleuntil Oct. 18 (FB)to break the late departurerecord. The only Buff-breastedSandpiper seenthis fall was on I. aux FermiersAug. 30 (GD), and a very late dowitcher at Boucherville until Oct. 29 was identified as a Short-billed(JLu, FB, FH). Exceptional phalaropesightings involveda Wilson'sat Saint-G•d6onAug. 28-Sept.3 (CG,MS) and inland Red Phalaropes(singles unless noted) at Saint-G•d- •on Sept.10-15 (CG, MS), BristolSept. 26-27 (two--TB, JLM), Bean Gooseat Cap-Tourmente,Quebec, Oct. 14, 1987,from a La Bale Oct. 3 (fide CCo), Saint-FulgenceOct. 4 (GSa, CCo), sketchby Y. Aubry. Drawing/M. Gosse/in. Saint-FerdinandOct. 17 (AC), and L•vis Oct. 29 (GLm). JAEGERS THROUGH OWLS -- Alongthe Upper St.Law- rence,an ad. ParasiticJaeger was presentat BeaconsfieldAug. 31-Sept.4 (PTa) and one was at Saint-Antoine-de-TillySept 27 (JLD).Other laridsprovided few highlights,but noteworthy Cap-Tourmente was visited Oct. 14-15 by the 2nd were an ad. LaughingGull at CacounaAug. I (GG), imm liean Gooseever seenin Canada(YA, v.o.);this site also Franklin'sat Trois-PistolesAug. 15 (MLa, JPO)and Victoriaville hosted the first, shot by a hunter in 1982 (seeAB 37: Oct. 22-28 (AC), an imm. Little Gull at MoisieR., Sept.11 {YA}, 159), which provedto be of the Europeantundra sub- a Com.Black-headed Gull inland at GranbyOct. 20 (MGa et speciesrossicus. This year'sbird was an adult of very al.}, and single 3rd-winter and first-winter Thayer's Gulls at slim proportions,with a long dark neck and head, and Aylmer Nov. 14 (DSH}& 28 (JD}, respectively.An ad. Lesser a long dark bill circled by a sharporange-yellow ring-- Black-backedGull returned to Boischatel(CV), one to three all charactersof the e. taiga subspeciesmiddendorffii. A were seenat Montreal (MMc, PM, WG}, one was seen at Hull bird seen at the Iowa-Nebraska border in 1985 was also Nov. 16 (JH), and three different birds were identifiedat Vm- identified as rniddendorffii(AB 39:172,182). Cap-Tour- toriaville Oct. 21-Nov. 14 (AC, GO, DJu). Seldom found on mente lies in the St. Lawrence Valley, at the junction inland lakes, two Great Black-backed Gulls reached L. Oslsko, of saltand freshwater. The entire populationof Greater Rouyn, Nov. 11-17 (JLp).A juv. Sabine'sGull gracedBeau- Snow Geese(C. c. arianfica) and many vagrant geese harnoisdam Aug. 29-30 and Sept.26 (PBa,PP, v.o.). Only one stopthere in fall. This season,a Greater White-fronted CaspianTern was sighted,at BouchervilleAug. 19 (FB) A Goosewas identifiedthere Oct. 12 asbeing of the Green- Dovekiewas very early off Old-Harry Pt., MadeleineIs., Sept land racefiavirostris (PP), and a total of five Ross'Geese 4 (PV, RPR)and anotherreached Quebec City Nov. 23 was seen,including two blue-morphbirds Oct. 15-21 CV). An Atlantic Puffin that flew pastRivi•re-Ouelle Oct 31 (JPO, AC, m.ob.). A gooseintermediate between Snow (CA} was alsofarther west than expected. and Ross' was also noted Oct. 18, as was the occasional small CanadaGoose, B.c. hutchinsii(YA, v.o.). An astonishingnumber of Yellow-billed Cuckoos reached s. Quebec this season. No fewer than 33 birds were seen acrossa broad front, from Hull to Bonaventure I., Sept.18-Oct. 30. The highestconcentration occurred A • Ruddy Shelduck of unknown origin appearedon L. in the QuebecCity area, where a dozenwere observed Boivin, near Granby, Oct. 10-11 (ST), and a record-lateEur. in mid-October. Such northward fall movements of Yel- Wigeonwas seenat C6te-Sainte-CatherineNov. 28-29 (DP et low-billed Cuckoohave traditionally been attributedto al.). In light of recent concernover the statusof the Atlantic weather fronts, but the periodic nature and large scale populationof Harlequin Ducks,it is worth documentingthe of these movementsare unique to this species.Recent groupof 38 at Pt. Sud-Ouest,Anticosti I., Aug. 13 (PBa).Singles Octoberpeaks of varying intensity have been noted m alsowandered to I. aux BasquesOct. 14 (JPO)and Chicoutimi Quebec in 1954, 1959, 1964, 1969, 1983, and 1985. The Oct. 18-19 (RS). fall migration of Yellow-billed Cuckoos involves a movementtoward the EastCoast followed by an oversea leg to South America. Since its summer distributionis RAPTORS THROUGH SHOREBIRDS- No longer un- linked to periodicinsect outbreaks (e.g., this year's out- expected,an ad. Turkey Vulture reachedSaint-Pascal Sept. 5 breakof 17-yearcicadas), the speciesmay reachthe East (LM). Bald Eagleswere regularly noted along the Lower St. Coastat latitudesor in numbersthat vary from year to Lawrence; 30_+individuals were counted on Anticosti I., where year. The large-scalevagrancy of the speciesmay thus 10 confirmedand probablenests were foundthis year (PS).An be linked to a combinationof two contrastingbehaviors •mm. Red-shoulderedHawk at Rimouski Aug. 18 (GG, DR) seldomfound togetherin the samespecies: erratic mass added to the growingnumber of local sightings.A Sofa un- movementsin searchof food and stereotypedlong-dis- coveredat Baie de la Tour Aug. 12 (PBa)was noteworthy,as tance migration. no nestingrecords exist yet for Anticosti I. A Sandhill Crane 46 AmericanB•rds, Spnng 1988 An uncorroboratedreport of a group (famdy?)of five Com brought several northerly s•ghtings,notable was a male that Barn-Owls calling in a N. Harley farmyard, July 30 (AL), was brighteneda Dolbeau feeder Nov 3-20 (JGd et al ), a first for highly suggestiveof local breeding.A former nestingrecord L. Saint-Jean.Lone Indigo Buntings were both locallyrare and from Berthierville in 1931 (Auk 64:631)had in fact been based late at Rimouski Oct. 5 (DR, GG) and Chicoutimi Oct. 20-21 on a Novembersighting of fully-fledgedbirds (seeCan. Field- (RS).Displaced emberizines included a Rufous-sidedTowbee Nat 93:323-324). There are, however, unpublished uncom- at StonehamOct. 31 (GSL),a male at Saint-Lambert-de-L6ws firreed reports of the speciessummering at Lacolle in 1979, Nov. 18 (LSM), a female at Saint-Val•re (CCr), and a male at 1980, and 1981 (H. Miehe, fide ND), and at Ulverton around Saint-Ferdinand(JR) Nov. 28-29, as well as a Lark Sparrow 1970 (J. Dion, fide ND). The recent designationof the Snowy at Pt. ParadisOct. 4 (AG). A feeder in Bergeronnesattracted Owl asthe officialprovincial bird waswell timed, asthe species an unexpectedSharp-tailed Sparrow Oct. 15 (AB, VB), and the stageda major incursioninto s. Quebec.No fewer than 125 province's8th Harris' Sparrow, an immature, frequented a b•rds arrived in late October and early November; the chro- Rigaudfeeder Nov. 3-11 (GH, v.o.). Observersreported single nologyof sightingssuggests a rapid S-W displacementup the Dark-eyed Juncosof the "Oregon" type at Mt. Saint-Bruno St LawrenceValley, beginningalong the N. Shore,rather than during October (JLu) and Hull Nov. 15 & 27 (JC, RF). A • Yel- an overland movement. Nine N. Hawk-Owls made an above- low-headedBlackbird was seen at LongueuilSept. 23 (JLc) averageshowing, as did four BorealOwls detected in s. Quebec: and out-of-rangeN. Orioles were encounteredat Pointe-aux- at Saint-Nazaire-de-Chicoutimi(MB), Cap-Tourmente(SLa), I. Outardesand HauteriveOct. 3 & 12 (GC),respectively, and at desSoeurs (FH), and C6te-Sainte-Catherine (MMc, BB).Typical, Grande-Rivi•re Oct.