ATLANTIC PROVINCES & ST. PIERRE ET MIQUELON 
^ A The Grand Codroy Estuary in extreme w. Newfoundland has been a RAMSAR site since 1987 and is well known for its 
*)/iidiversity of waterfowl, but not much is known about the area's landbirds (not suprising— as most active birders in 
the province live on the Avalon Pen., a good 800 km away). But in May and Jun 2009, in conjunction with the new "Feather 
& Folk" nature festival in the Codroy Valley, birders from St. John's made the long trek to help search for passerine vagrants 
and the rarer nesting species. Some spent a month, into late Jun, with 1 1 1 species tallied on 10 Jun (Dave Brown, Jen Hard- 
ing). Besides vagrants, they found the following species — some at or near the e. limit of their breeding ranges in North 
America — to be fairly common in (often rather limited) appropriate habitat: Pied-billed Grebe, Gadwall, Wood Duck, Amer- 
ican Woodcock, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Least Flycatcher, Blue-headed Vireo, Philadelphia Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Ruby-throat- 
ed Hummingbird, Winter Wren, Brown Creeper, Veery, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Nashville Warbler, Cape May War- 
bler, Canada Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Northern Parula, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Bobolink, and Red-winged Blackbird. 
For many of these species, the Codroy is proving to be their only toehold on the island. 
G.N.P. 10 Jun (DW). The only spring report 
of Dickdssel was a female far afield at St. 
Lewis, Labrador 5 Jun (Eva Luther). 
Indigo Bunting was reported often in Nova 
Scotia and New Brunswick during spring, in- 
cluding singles at Goose Bay 17 May (Carol 
Wilcox) and Grand Codroy, NF 1 Jun (LG), in 
addition to records digested in the spring re- 
port. A male Painted Bunting at St. Pierre vil- 
lage in early Jul (Fred LeGlaunec) was very 
rare for the French islands. The Region’s first 
record of breeding Orchard Oriole was a di- 
rect result of atlas work: a nest with eggs was 
found 16 Jun at Riverbank, Carleton, NB (KW, 
SD), near the Maine border. The female was 
still incubating 9 Jul (indicating the eggs were 
likely infertile), and the nest was empty 14 Jul. 
A male Boat-tailed Crackle well observed and 
described at Freeport, Digby, NS 4 Jun (CS, 
FL) furnished only the 2nd firm record for the 
province. A male Yellow-headed Blackbird was 
reported 13 Jun near Kentville, NS. Bobolinks, 
widely in decline, were down on the North 
Kingston, NS B.B.S.: only one was recorded 
this year, versus a recent average of 14, per- 
haps a result of flooded fields. Good numbers 
of fledglings on the Bellisle Marsh, Annapolis, 
NS were likely due to delayed haying (BMy). 
At the Belanger farm in Upper Stewiacke, 
Colchester, NS, fields were mowed from the 
center to the edges (Corrine Redden- 
Belanger), which may be better for the birds. 
Red Crossbill is a declining species in New 
Brunswick and Nova Scotia but appears to be 
holding its own on the Avalon Pen. of New- 
foundland, where fledged young were noted 
at Conception Bay South 15 Jun. Evening 
Grosbeak has also declined significantly as a 
breeder in the Maritime provinces over the 
past 25 years but remains fairly common on 
the island of Newfoundland. Of note was one 
far to the ne. at Goose Bay, Labrador 9 Jun 
(Patricia Kelsall). 
Initialed contributors (subregional editors in 
boldface): Olivier Barden, John Belbin, Dave 
Brown, Patrick Boez, Roger Burrows, David 
Christie, Tony Chubbs, Merv Cormier, Brian 
Dalzell, Samuel Denault, Robert Doiron, 
Roger Etcheberry, Chris Field, John Gib- 
bons, Lisa Giroux, Jen Harding, Anne Hugh- 
es, Laurent Jackman, Colin Jones, Tom Ka- 
vanaugh, Mike King, Fulton Lavender, Har- 
vey MacLeod, Bruce Mactavish, Blake May- 
bank, Ian McLaren, Eric Mills, Susann My- 
ers, Johnny Nickerson, Gordon Parsons, Bev- 
erly Schneider, Francis Schwab, David Seeler, 
David Shepherd, John-Philippe Siblet, Lome 
Slaney, Clarence Stevens, Stuart Tingley, Hans 
Toom, Kyle Wellband, Darroch Whitaker, Jim 
Wilson, Bill Winsor. © 
Brian Dalzell, 87 Allison Drive 
Moncton, New Brunswick, El E 217 
(aythya(Snb.sympatico.ca) 
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Laurier Berthierville^ 
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Pierre Bannon 
Oiivier Barden 
Normand David 
Samuel Denault 
Yves Aubry 
F or people living in the south, it was not 
a very pleasant summer. Temperatures 
were slightly below normal, while total 
precipitation was in general above normal. The 
most noticeable climatic feature of the season 
was the lack of sunshine. In July, at Montreal, 
Quebec City, and Gaspe, the total number of 
hours of sunshine was 49% to 66% below nor- 
mal. For much better weather, one had to 
move north. In July, the average temperature 
in extreme northern Quebec was above normal 
by as much as 5.3° C at Inukjuak and 2.8° C at 
La Grande Riviere. La Grande Riviere also had 
its driest June since 1976. 
A flurry of Arctic breeders, including Pacific 
Loon, Ross’s Gull, Sabine’s Gull, and Long- 
tailed Jaeger, turned up in the upper St. 
Lawrence valley in mid-June, at a moment 
when the weather was not particularly excep- 
tional. Although all these species have ap- 
peared in June in the past, their almost simul- 
taneous presence was most unusual. Other- 
wise, no great surprises were noticed in the Re- 
gion. 
WATERFOWL THROUGH lAEGERS 
A male Ruddy Duck at Cap-Bon-Desir 16-19 
Jun (M. Maury) was considered a local rarity. 
An ad. Pacihc Loon in definitive plumage was 
spotted at Neuville 16 Jun (F Grenon et al). A 
Northern Fulmar at Saint-Fulgence 4 Jun was 
the first in summer for the Saguenay-Lac Saint- 
Jean region (CC). A count of 150 Greater 
Shearwaters and 25 Sooty Shearwaters made 
from the ferry off the Magdalen Is. 5 Jul was 
noteworthy (G. Cyr, GE et al). Four Wilson’s 
Storm-Petrels were detected off Tadoussac 27 
Jul (RP). An American White Pelican visited 
Lac Duparquet 15 Jul (P. Cadieux et al). An 
ad. Little Blue Heron graced Trois-Rivieres 18- 
21 Jul 0- Benin, ph. M. Bisson, m.ob.), while a 
Cattle Egret stopped at Saint- Vallier 5 Jun (A. 
VOlUME 63 (2009) 
NUMBER 4 
567 
