Just a bit of the bike trail

Fromagerie with the best frozen yogurt and sundaes!

After checking the weather today I was determined to get out this evening. I went out birding since this would be the last nice day I spend in Trois-Pistoles. As I think to myself 'Where is close?' - because I have plans with friends in an hour -I remember a small dirt road near the gas station (the one across from the fromagerie) that goes down a hill.  I  bike to this and then walk. The trail to my disappointment ends very quickly. I am not ready to turn back yet so I start walking through the bushes towards the train tracks.

I hear many birds calling from my nice view and the lighting is great so I walk down the tracks for a bit and get sparrows, robins, crows goldfinches and common yellowthroats.

Common yellowthroat (4 seen, 6 heard)
American tree sparrow (2)
American crows (8)
American goldfinch (5)
American robin
Red-winged blackbird
Black capped chickadee

 The sun setting reminds me I'm already late and I turn back before my light runs out. It was short but very satisfying to get outside and see some wildlife on my last evening here.

Sentier National

After a relaxing morning a group a friends and I went for a walk along the Sentier National (national trail). With beers and lunches packed we biked the five minutes to the closest entrance of the trail which was beside Riviere de Trois- Pistoles and hiked up along the river.

Within a few minutes we were seeing picturesque scenery's with rapids and small waterfalls. We stopped to have lunch and a beer nearby a small waterfall.

Further up the trail we found the large waterfall that we were actually looking for. It looked beautiful but we had been cautioned to not swim there because 13 people have died in the past. We found a shallower calm area to swim in lower down the river.

In the hills a lot of collected water had formed vernal pools.... Yes my mind went to herps as soon as I saw these beauties. You just know somethings gotta be living around this area.

As I was drying off from the swim I was joined by a really pretty metallic wasp.

 

 

Sentier National is one of my favorite places in Trois-Pistole. I would go there every day if I could. 

Beach and Waterfalls

Again to celebrate Friday we went for a picnic on the beach nearby the waterfall. Again the tide was very low when we got there at 12 but this would be a great place to kiteboard. We watched as the tide came in VERY quickly and were pretty glad we hadn't tried to walk to the islands.

Students relaxing and checking out the tide pools

The tide pools had shrimp, fish and sea worms in them that would scatter away from you as you glared into the waters.

Tide pools

A friend and I stayed after the others had all left and a few more people met up with us later during the day. We swam and hung out by the falls until the black flies were unbearable to most.

First Herp in Trois-Pistoles!

It had been raining for the past few days and overnight. The dew still clung to the grass and puddles were slowly evaporating in the days sun. I excitedly rushed out of class and walked towards the house where I eat lunch wondering what would be in store for us that day.  Wait what was that... on the sidewalk?! Someone on their bike almost hits me as I stop dead in my tracks. This little two-lined salamander was lucky today. It was stepped on but luckily not squished. A piece of his tail was stuck to the pavement and he was drying out in the sun. He was still alive and after I carefully separated him from the sidewalk and dumped some water on him he got more active.

Northern two-lined Salamander (Eurycea bislineata)

I found a small creek near the school and left the salamander in this quiet place in the hopes that he would be alright.

Waterfall

Friends and I made plans to go to a small waterfall after class today. It's surprising how fast words gets around because by the end of the day we had a biker gang about 20 or more strong ready to go see some water falling down rocks.

I really did dull down the excitement there but on a day that is 25 degrees C and sunny this was very welcome!

Waterfall

 This waterfall is actually on private property but the owner is nice enough to let people go to it anytime. He only gets upset when people leave garbage there which I thought was quite disrespectful anyways so it's a great deal.

Trois-Pistoles: Some local exploring

After class today I escaped to the beach nearby a water treatment plant. There was a lot of birds out and the weather was amazing.

 Great black-backed gulls

Great black-backed gulls

Ring billed gulls
American Tree Sparrow

Tree swallows
Duck sp.

Where a small river met the big river there were a lot of  well camouflaged wading birds running around. At first I saw one lesser yellowlegs. I followed this for a few minutes and realized so many rocks were moving! Wait those are just a ton more birds.
Killdeer (1)

Killdeer

Greater yellowlegs (9)
Lesser yellowlegs (1)

Black- capped chickadee


There was a feeding frenzy of gulls and ducks that were too far away for me to identify. I bet there was a lot of species in there I would have enjoyed seeing but I didn't have a scope.

Parc National du Bic

This day was set aside to go on a trip to Parc National du Bic. This was a park I wanted to go to since I got here and had been dying to get some free time to do so. It ended up being very convenient that the school was planning a trip for us for only $12.

We headed to the park at 10am and first walked the Pic de Champlain trail up to the lookout.  This was when I realized how much I hate large groups. Within the first 5 minutes of the crowds of other students marching up the hill at the encouragement of our teachers (who aren't much older than us), talking and yelling...etc. I realized that I was very unlikely to see any types of birds today. The hike was nice and the view was great from the lookout.

First trail of the day

Before picture!

 After lunch at the lookout we hiked down the trail and I head many birds but they all seamed to avoid the trail that 3 bus loads of students had walked on that day. I was often ushered ahead by the organizers and got quite upset at being treated like a child. Then the only bird I had in my lens for a shot was scared off by another student who has a very unnaturally loud voice. This probably was a new bird for my year and I have no hope of identifying it now since all I notices was a grey body and white wing bars> Not nearly enough!

At the lookout

Friends from back home

View without people in the way

As my back was hurting enough to give me a headache and I felt like I might yell at someone I wandered off by myself at the next stop by the beach. I walked down a trail to my left because it was literally the first one I saw. These trails were also busy of both locals and students but I was looking for seals (phoques) so I wasn't too worried about them being scared off by loud people. As I walk the trails I see a few sparrows and hear many warblers but my spirits are so low from the morning that I hardly bother to look at them.  As I scan the rocks along the trail I realize that a new mammal has replaced seals basking on the beaches and rocks. Humans are all over the place here and I can barely get away from them. Needless to say there were no seals on the rocks that I saw. But as I neared the end of the 1.5km trail I saw common eiders in a large bay. This is actually a life bird for me despite not being a rare one (I'm new at this). The new bird and the gorgeous view as all the students retreated back to the buses before I did kinda perked up my mood but the extra strength advil when I got home was even better relief.

So although the lists from Parc National du Bic on eBird go up to the 5000 mine consisted of about 13. A lot were very common species but I did see a new lifer.

Beach

At P.N.B. the trails by the beach had a lot of spring wildflowers that were blooming along the trails edges.

Picturesque scenery by the St. Lawrence Seaway

Common eider

Picnic dans Trois-Pistoles

On this beautiful day it was hard not to stare out the windows during my first class. Luckily I made a good choice for my afternoon workshop (l'ecologie)! Today we got outside to enjoy the weather by having a picnic.

American Goldfinch

 After a few minute bike ride up the hill on Jean-Rioux we cut left and went up a small grass/dirt path towards the large cross on the hill. This path crossed over a field where I saw a few birds. It continued winding through woods and up the hill. The view of Trois-Pistoles was gorgeous.

View from the top of the hill

I could hear birds singing in the woods. Wildflowers and bushes were blooming.

Flowering bushes littered the hills

 

Another Bird By the Sea

Today I took my friends Beka, Brooke and Karmen to the docks before dinner. It wasn't very warm out and the girls were tired but Brooke and I took a short walk along the beach when the tide was lower. I saw a fair number of gulls and other birds but none new. The most interesting birds were Great black backed gulls and a Spotted sandpiper. There were also small fish and shrimp like creatures in

Spotted sandpiper

On highway 138 west towards Riviere du Loop the fields were turned white. Snow geese in such large numbers really do make fields look like they are covered in snow! There were 100s of them!

Photo Credit: Brooke Boyd

Snow geese