I am fortunate to have friends in La Belle Province who have taught me a great deal about the natural world and all in the language of Molière.

As soon as I cross the border into Québec, a robin becomes merle, a chickadee becomes mésange and a crow becomes corneille.

You have to be careful with the word corneille. Replace the “n” with a “b” and you are talking about a waste paper basket.

My plan today was to visit the Plage-Jacques-Cartier in Quebec City.

I have been there many times in warmer seasons.

Here is what I found at the entrance today:

I continued on foot.

My main companions were corneilles.

From allaboutbirds.org

American Crows eat a vast array of foods, including grains, seeds, nuts, fruits, berries, and many kinds of small animals such as earthworms and mice. They eat many insects, including some crop pests, and also eat aquatic animals such as fish, young turtles, crayfish, mussels, and clams. A frequent nest predator, the American Crow eats the eggs and nestlings of many species including sparrows, robins, jays, terns, loons, and eiders. Also eats carrion and garbage.

Some botany:

Too much snow falls in Quebec City to just plow it. Mechanical blowers come and pile it high onto front lawns.

NATURE POETRY

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued. – Robert Frost

Miles Hearn