Philipsburg (George H. Montgomery) Bird Sanctuary
Highway 133 - Philipsburg, Quebec
Located in south-eastern Quebec, the sanctuary was officially inaugurated on June 6, 1992. The land owned by Bird Protection Quebec is a portion of a much larger federal migratory bird sanctuary owned by a number of other landowners.
The sanctuary lies to the east of Highway 133, north of the U.S. border crossing with Vermont. It consists of roughly 175 acres of forest, grassland and marsh habitat. A line of cliffs deep within the forest runs along the sanctuary’s eastern boundary. Several well-marked trails have been set up within the property. There are two separate parcels of land owned by BPQ separated by property owned by the Steiche family. The Steiche land is included in the sanctuary, with trails crossing it that visitors are permitted to access. The land owned by Bird Protection Quebec is outlined in red on the map below.
A wide variety of species are present with Cerulean Warblers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Tufted Titmouse nesting in the sanctuary being of particular importance.
The sanctuary is an eBird hotspot. To see the complete list of species which have been reported, go to https://ebird.org/hotspot/L354000
From the north, a small parking area is accessible from chemin de Saint-Armand. It provides access across private land to the edge of the marsh and wetland (Streit’s Pond), where there is a small observation blind. Access from this point to the main sector of the sanctuary is not possible, except in winter when visitors can cross the frozen pond.
From the east side of Highway 133, a parking area is accessible on the grounds of the former Motel Frontière, a short distance north of the well-marked U-turn north of the U.S. border crossing.
As one of the Cerulean Warbler’s most reliable known breeding sites in Canada, surveys of the Cerulean Warbler have been carried out annually since 2010, to map the territory occupied by singing males. The Cerulean Warbler is Endangered in Canada under the Species at Risk Act, and the sanctuary is designated as Critical Habitat for this species, making it important to monitor the status of the Cerulean Warbler at the sanctuary.
Many species of cavity-nesting birds in Canada are declining, especially aerial insectivores like swallows, and providing these birds with nest boxes is an important conservation tool. To encourage cavity nesters to breed at the sanctuary, Wood Duck nest boxes have been installed around the pond on the property and Tree Swallow/Eastern Bluebird nesting boxes have been installed at the northern entrance to the sanctuary.
Since 2016, in collaboration with the Centre d’interprétation du milieu écologiques du Haut-Richelieu (CIME) organization, efforts to control invasive garlic mustard have been made by manual pulling multiple times a year. CIME also oversees the installation of deer exclosures and the seeding of experimental plots. These measures are undertaken on an ongoing basis to stimulate growth of the sanctuary’s rare and protected native plants.
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