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Site description (2001 baseline)
Réservoir Beaudet is immediately adjacent to the city of Victoriaville, in the Eastern Townships of southern Québec. The reservoir, which was created by daming the Bulstrode River, provides drinking water for the nearby communities. The site is surrounded by an urban recreational park with trails and a cycling path. The southeast shore has small woodlots and a small shrubby marsh.

Key biodiversity
During fall migration, this site harbours significant numbers of gulls and geese. Since 1996, high numbers of Greater Snow Geese (subspecies atlanticus) have been recorded here, with a high of 40,000 in 1997; this peak number represents about 6% of the total population of this subspecies. Other waterfowl found here in noteworthy numbers include American Black Duck (380 in 1986), Black Scoter (480 in 1988), Common Merganser (700 in 1990) and Red-breasted Merganser (130 in 1988).

Ring-billed Gulls gathers in large numbers, starting in mid-August, when their numbers start to reach a few thousand individuals. Eventually their numbers peak in October, such as in 1993, when 10,000 birds were recorded. This is a nationally significant number. Few of these birds are found in the reservoir during the day: they leave at dawn to feed in the surrounding fields and return to spend the night on the water. Another gull species, the Herring Gull, also congregates here in good, but less significant, numbers, with 2,000 birds in 1988, which is close to 1% of the North American population.

So far, 224 species of birds have been recorded at this site. The high concentration of waterbirds using the reservoir is probably linked to the absence of hunters and the uniqueness of this site as a refuge for local gregarious birds. At peak times in October, ducks, geese, and gulls numbers exceed 60,000 individuals. Several species of land birds also use the reservoir in high numbers for roosting in the fall. The following are some of the peak counts for certain species: 4,000 American Crows (1989), 17,251 European Starlings (1989), 2,500 Red-winged Blackbirds (1988), 1,000 Common Grackles (1988) and 700 Brown-headed Cowbirds (1988).

A few species that are nationally at risk can be observed at the reservoir occasionally, albeit in low numbers: Harlequin Duck (endangered), Peregrine Falcon (threatened), Red-shouldered Hawk (vulnerable) and Red-headed Woodpecker (vulnerable). Several species which are rare or at risk in Quebec, such as Horned Grebe, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Bald Eagle, Cooper’s Hawk and Caspian Tern, can also be seen occasionally during migration.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Réservoir Beaudet (Canada). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/réservoir-beaudet-iba-canada on 26/12/2024.