After the long cold, snowy Northern Hemisphere winter, nature photographers and birders look forward to spring time’s annual bird migration. Generally, the last two weeks of May are peak time to see migrating birds. Deciduous leaves are emerging and leafing out, and ice has melted from ponds, lakes, streams and rivers. The St. Lawrence River in Quebec Provence offers spectacular birdwatching and photography opportunities. Migrating Snow Geese (Anser caerulescens) gather by the thousands along the shore of the St. Lawrence River.
On May 23rd this year, my husband Ismael and I decided to visit a well-known place for bird-watching, Nicolet Bird Sanctuary, in Baie du Febvre, down river from Montreal where we live. It was a very windy and sunny day, so much so that I had trouble holding my camera to take the pictures as I always take my photos without a tripod. We were watching Snow Geese, ducks and shorebirds, when suddenly we saw three phalaropes flying towards us. We were really delighted to see these unusual shorebirds because they are uncommon species along the St. Lawrence River.
Phalaropes are coastal and oceanic birds which swim in circles to concentrate marine invertebrate animals to eat. We also saw a stunning, male Wilson’s Phalarope (Phalaropes tricolor) in full breeding plumage, a female and a surprising Red Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius), which is a species difficult to see since it is rare in our province. During our winter, Wilson’s Phalaropes and Red Phalarope migrate to South America where they congregate on salt lakes which are rich in food in the Andes Mountains primarily in Argentina.
We have visited many places in Quebec to see and photograph birds. Bird watching and photography is very popular in Canada – there are many people who love this hobby, and we have become friends with a number of like-minded naturalists we have met on our photographic trips. I began nature photography five years ago, and have gradually upgraded my camera gear. Now I use a Nikon D850, with a Nikon 500 with TC 14E II. The setting for the Wislon’s Phalarope image was: 1/1250, ISO800, F 8.
Cristina Araya was born in Chile, and now lives in Montreal, Canada. Cristina is an avid nature photographer
