Experience Québec
Observation
The wind beneath their wings
If I had wings I’d fly to Quebec City to see the snow geese before they migrate for the winter. Our faithful feathered friends gather each April and October on the shores of the St. Lawrence, to rest and feed partway through their long journey. Let us take flight, destination Montmagny and Cap Tourmente!
In September the snow geese leave their Arctic nests - generally on Bylot and Baffin Island - and set forth on a journey of 3,000 to 4,000 kilometres to the American east coast, where they will spend the winter in somewhat warmer climes. In flight, their wingspan can be as wide as 1.5 metres, and they can attain speeds of close to 95 kilometres an hour. These are impressive birds. Before reaching their final destination, the magnificent snow geese will take advantage of Quebec’s hospitality and spend a couple of weeks on our soil.Festivals just for them
Once again this year, the snow goose will be celebrated in high style at the Montmagny Snow Goose Festival. The festival’s mascots, Pampan and Pampinot, will join the approximately 600,000 birds who flock to Quebec to rest before setting out on the last leg of their migration. As always, the festival will feature canoe races and other organized activities. There will also be a variety of goose-related foods prepared by the region’s top chefs.For those who want to experience this intimate encounter with the snow geese, Ornitour is the outfitter to call. A guide will take you through the marshes and tell you everything you’d like to know about the goose’s habits and lifestyle. At the Centre des migrations, the only museum of its kind devoted to the migratory bird, is an interactive family exhibition on flight techniques, reproduction, and feeding habits.
A sight to see
Nature’s spectacle takes place across the river, as well, in Saint-Joachim on the Côte-de-Beaupré, with another Snow Goose Festival. Festivities include culinary events, crafts shows, and a sculpture competition.
They picked a good spot to hold the Saint-Joachim festival, as it is located very near the Cap Tourmente National Wildife Area, where natural protection has been a stunning success. It contains a vast intertidal marsh of American bulrush (the greater snow goose’s favourite food) and a constantly growing population.Two special activities are organized to give visitors a get a better idea of the sheer scope of the annual migration - "Passages d’oiseaux" and "L’arrivée des oies blanches." If you’d like to see the birds from a different perspective, the observatory atop the 150-metre-high cliff offers a superb view, as does the observation tower and the many hiking trails. So come see the birds and wish them a great flight. We look forward to their return next spring!
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Guillaume Rivard
2008-04-16
