Petit dejeuner over, our day started with some rain. It was forecast for most of the day so we thought we'd better get our waterproofs out. A day of Reserves Faunique and visits to Parcs National was planned, so nearly all outdoors. We check emergency back-up of museums that can be visited if the rain is too persistent. All set now, we start today's journey into the unknown (well a bit of poetic licence there).
We had a few stops almost immediately, including Baie Rouisseau and managed to accumulate a reasonable bird list to start the day, including Whimbrel (possibly Hudsonian since it's the right area for them),
American Plover,
more Sanderling and Semi-palmate Plover, a Peregrine Falcon on a rock,
Snow Geese, Osprey - or as they call it here - Bal-buzzard du pecheur, Green winged teal, another Peregrine Falcon eating a Merlin on a rock,
We knew it was it was a Merlin because there was another birder there with a telescope who had actually seen the Peregrine take the bird and it struggling with the weight. He was quite surprised, as were we.
plus some as yet unidentified song birds, now identified as a Dark-eyed Junco.
one of which was possibly an American Tree Sparrow. Although not too sure about that.
And some ducks.
Oh, and a Minke whale sighting, only a glimpse mind you.
The driving is still pretty good and we stick to the Route de Navigateurs, which, of course, is coastal.
There are also some lighthouses, one of which, at Pointe St Pierre, would have been spiffing but was shrouded in scaffolding, being repaired.
Next door to it though was an amazing submarine museum,
plus a whole museum based on an Irish ship, The Empress of Ireland, that had been wrecked in the St Lawrence Estuary after colliding with a coal tanker. There were over a 1000 lives lost (more passengers lost than the Titanic). It was a hard call, do we do visits outside (nature reserves) or inside? Decision made based on 1: the weather had perked up magnificently and 2: the cost of the museums was 20 CAD each. To justify that and do the museums justice, I think we would have needed to stay most of the day, and we were still a long way from our next stop.
Eric still wanted to go in the submarine though.
Rimouski is an oil town but looked interesting, with a promenade or Sentier Litorale (seashore hiking trail), and rather nice houses. The industrial part was not as obvious as in some towns.
This reserve is special for it's Spartina salt marsh,
there is only a short walk and an observation tower so that the reserve stays as undisturbed as possible whilst still giving some access.
Next stop, Bic National Park. There is a quay and we stop to check out the mudflats and marshland (as you do).
Nice mountains.
More excitingly, just in front of us a smallish mammal appears, munching on the grass.
What can it be? It's not a Rabbit or a Muskrat. Nothing we recognise. Take some piccies and make a note to ask the warden when we reach the Visitor Centre.
Quelle surprise, turns out it's a Marmot! (as you may have noted, we are now at least partially thinking in French, although we haven't worked out how to put the correct accents on the words yet!).
More views:
At our lunch stop we are joined by this cheeky chappie who muscled in on a selfie.
He was also interested in what we were eating. The warden also tells us the squirrel at lunch with us was a brown squirrel (fairly obvious really) and that they don't have grey ones here. Funny, these brown squirrel are not being displaced here as they have been the UK.
OK, this view is great for a lunch stop, but where's the food? I hope that squirrel hasn't been in our bag and eaten it all.
Armed with a park map, the warden tells us that if we visit Cap Caribou between 12:30 and 2:00 there will be a guide there to tell us about the seals. We duly follow her instructions even though it means two steep downhill hikes.
The seal beach
It's low tide and the Seals look a picture of contentment as they bask on the rocks.
The guide arrives (along with other people), sets up telescopes and begins his talk - in French of course. Darn it, knew I should have paid more attention to languages in school. We ask a question or two in a mix of English and French, which he answers but as most of the rest of the people are French speaking he carries on jovially in his own language, very quickly and with much hilarity from his audience. Obviously a bit of character, pity we can't understand most of it!
The day is running on and we are only about halfway to tonights stop.
This Bay is called Ha Ha Bay.
A further stop within the park is a panoramic viewpoint where you are able to see seven different types of raptor (if you are here at the right time of year). Since we are long way from the back-end of June we have to make do with the view,
and an enormous skein of Canada Geese.
Along the way some of the views from the car over the St Lawrence Estuary are stunning, with the water looking like glass and the mountains visible on the other side. There were no stops at that elevation for a piccie so you'll just have to take our word for that and make do with this one.
We pass a quaint village called Notre Dame du Portage which boasts what we assume to be a very popular (based on the number of vehicles parked outside) spa hotel, The clientele must be very relaxed as many of them seem to be wandering the village in their bath robes.
Our final nature stop was to be L'Isle de Verte National Wildlife Refuge. Although part of it is on an island, the major part is on the mainland. We stop at the Maison Girard Visitor and Intrepretation Centre which says 'Ouvert' or 'Open', but..you've guessed it..it's not. There is however a small card in a pocket on the door with a map of the reserve and parking areas - given the size of it we really need a magnifying glass! There are four areas of the reserve to visit, the first of which we find fairly easily.
Well, I can't see any white geese here.
The next part is a loop drive through the marsh, it's about 3 or 4 km long and a quite rough dirt road, not really suitable for a hire car.
Deciding that was enough for the day we motor on to Kamouraska, book into our Gite and walk along the seafront road
to a local Tapas Bar for dinner. An excellent recommendation by our host - stunning views across the estuary, with good food.
The initial decision was to go for the duck breast, but the waitress informed us that it was off as the duck farm had burnt down! Her recommendation was Carpaccio de Bison de Jean-luc-Chouinard which, after enjoying it enormously, discover it is basically a bison that has strayed too close to a hot radiator and could have almost carried it's own death certificate to the table. Those of us that don't eat meat enjoyed quinoa salad and zucchini, tomato and onion salad, plus there was a bowl of frites to share.
To top that off, a good sunset on the walk back.
We knew it was it was a Merlin because there was another birder there with a telescope who had actually seen the Peregrine take the bird and it struggling with the weight. He was quite surprised, as were we.
