Émilie Grenier-Catherine Dion-Nadia Bergeron participate in the Grand Défi QuébecOiseaux.
A team of three women will try to observe 125 species of birds while crossing Témiscamingue in 24 hours.
The Sturn'ailes team is in the field since Friday afternoon as part of the Grand Défi QuébecOiseaux.
Nadia Bergeron, Émilie Grenier and Catherine Dion have already raised more than $500 which will go to QuébecOiseaux and SLOAT for projects related to country birds, including the short-eared owl .
The goal is to observe as many species as possible. So really go with the most diversity. But it is certain that there are certain species in particular that we would like to observe, such as the scarlet piranga, the pine warbler or the barred owl, in addition to the short-eared owl, explains Catherine Dion who has participated in the challenge for several years. She says bird conservation is very important to them.
According to her, this is the first time that her team has embarked on such an adventure in Témiscamingue since the launch of the challenge ten years ago.
The Grand Défi QuébecOiseaux aims to raise awareness about the protection of birds in Québec and to raise funds for conservation projects.
This year, the general theme is the rural birds, either from the agricultural environment, fields, pastures or meadows.
With the money it will obtain, the Société du loisirs ornithologique de l'Abitibi et du Témiscamingue will be able to launch a project to observe the short-eared owl.
A project that will be carried out with the Quebec Ministry of the Environment in order to inventory suitable grounds for the nesting of this little-known species in the region. We have a project to provide volunteers to inventory suitable grounds for the nesting of the short-eared owl, because it is very little known in the region, explains the president of the SLOAT Edith Van de Walle.
The Ministry needs this data to develop protective measures. Our volunteers will travel over large territories to try to find places where the presence of the short-eared owl has been observed. Because it is a species that is difficult to observe. Difficult to detect. Our territory is huge, so it's not always easy to find the places where it nests, especially since it's a little bit in trouble, so we've seen less of it in recent years, adds Edith Van de Walle.
She adds that this year, three teams from Abitibi-Témiscamingue are taking part in the challenge during the month of May.
