Quebec in Fall: Birds & Whales

Québec City, a World Heritage City, is the beautiful capital of the province of Québec, situated on the St. Lawrence River. It will be our base for the start of our Quebec birding and whale tour. We will meet for dinner to discuss our upcoming birding adventure. Night in Quebec City, near the airport.

We encourage you to arrive a day prior to the tour, to enjoy Old Quebec City on your own.

We will be going to Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area early in the morning, and spend the day exploring the varied habitats of this important refuge; mixed-wood forests, ponds, fields, marshes (fresh and saltwater), and the St. Lawrence River. We will start our visit with a stop at the banding station for a unique opportunity to see from up close very small passerines. The highlight should be the southbound concentration of Greater Snow Geese, with daily counts exceeding 50,000 birds, although many other waterfowl are also expected. It’s a spectacle not to be missed. Depending on the winds there is a chance for songbird and raptor migration as well. Night in Quebec City.

Plan A : We’ll spend the morning in the Grand Jardins National Park looking for boreal specialties such as Spruce Grouse, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Canada Jay, Boreal Chickadee, several boreal warblers, and White-winged Crossbills, but also many hawks, Bald Eagle and occasionally a Golden Eagle.

Plan B : We will spend the morning on Isle-aux-Coudres, which is very good during migration. Here, we will look for seabirds, waterfowl, shorebirds, passerines because of the diversified habitats we can find on this small island, in a key geographic spot on the St. Lawrence River.

In the afternoon, we will explore the stunning coastal road between Baie-Saint-Paul and Tadoussac, stopping along the shore to look for migrant shorebirds and passerines. Just before crossing the Saguenay Fjord with the ferry, we will stop at the Pointe-Noire Interpretation and Observation Centre for good odds at seeing various marine mammals like Harbour Seals, Gray Seals and Beluga Whales. Night in Tadoussac.

We’ll spend the next three days in the Tadoussac area. We will start our day at the Tadoussac Dunes, a part of Saguenay Fjord National Park that overlooks the St. Lawrence river and is home to the Tadoussac Bird Observatory. Boreal forest predominates here, with migrant landbirds scattered among the residents. Species lists change each day, but we’ll hope for Gray-cheeked Thrush, Fox Sparrow, Canada Jay, American Pipit, and boreal finches.

We will explore the mythical Tadoussac village where vagrants always seem to get caught! The same day, we will go on a whale-watching tour (weather permitting) in the Laurentian Channel offshore of the mouth of the Saguenay Fjord, one of Canada’s premier whale-watching sites. Minke and Fin Whales are the main feature of these whale-watching cruises and resident Beluga Whales are often seen. With luck, a Blue Whale, a Humpback Whale or a pod of White-sided Dolphins could also be seen. The conditions that attract whales are also good for pelagic birds, so we will keep an eye out. Night in Tadoussac.

On that day, we will go on a pelagic birds tour where there should be numerous Black-legged Kittiwakes, and we’ll watch for harassing jaegers. We will observe Razorbills and Black Guillemots from close-up and always have a chance at finding a rare gull or a group of phalaropes. Once we are back on land, we will visit the greatest gull birding spot, the Escoumins bay where Bonaparte's gull can be seen by hundreds on good tides. We will make our way back to Tadoussac with lunch at the most beautiful landscape place in Bergeronnes. We will continue our way on a multi-habitat road that goes from pure boreal forest to blueberry fields, farmlands and lakes. Night in Tadoussac.

We’ll spend the day investigating the south shoreline of the St. Lawrence River, with stops in Kamouraska, Montmagny and other locations where we’ll look for migrating shorebirds and waterfowl. We’ll check flocks of Black-bellied Plover for possible American Golden-Plover, and listen for Horned Larks among the landbirds. These areas are also good for birds of prey, including the occasional Golden Eagle, and the salt marshes also harbour some marsh birds, particularly Marsh Wrens and Swamp Sparrows. This is a coastal region of the Saint-Lawrence where Harbour Seals and Belugas are also seen. Night in Québec City.