Photo: Ben McCauley
Fauna
Since the 1970s, several inventories have made it possible to recognize the wealth found in the Brome Lake watershed. We know that there are at least 158 animal species present on the territory. The inventories mainly targeted the lake itself and Quilliams Creek. Thus, a large number of sectors are still to be studied. The best known groups are birds, reptiles, fish, crustaceans and dragonflies. To date, no study has listed the mammals present on the territory.
Birds
An inventory of the avifauna of the riparian wetlands located at the mouths of Brome Lake streams was carried out in 2011. A total of 53 bird species were spotted in all eight wetlands. Of this number, 12 were attributed to the Anatidae and aquatic birds group, only 1 to birds of prey and 40 to the large group of passerines and land birds. Most species (50) were classified as breeding.
Virginia Rail
Reptiles and amphibians
Herpetofauna
Three inventories made it possible to list the amphibians and reptiles present on the territory. Sixteen species were observed between 1946 and 2016, including four with special statuses. The northern dusky salamander, the four-toed salamander and the water snake are likely to be designated as threatened or vulnerable in Quebec and the wood turtle is a vulnerable species in Quebec.
Reptiles
The word reptile is used to group together orders of species usually covered in scales, including squamates (snakes and lizards) and testudines (turtles). At Brome Lake, three species of turtles and two species of snakes have been identified in the watershed.
Turtles
There are 9 species of turtles in Quebec. Three species are present in the Brome Lake watershed. An inventory carried out in 2011 indicates that the snapping turtle was found on the slope of Brome Lake. The inventory carried out in 2011 indicates that the snapping turtle was found in all of the wetlands except at Argyll Creek and the McPherson filtering marsh. For its part, the painted turtle is present in the Yamaska River (outlet of the lake), then in the Pearson and Quilliams streams.
Garter snakes
As for snakes, these are represented in Quebec by 8 species of snakes. At Brome Lake, inventory of 2011 made it possible to find a single species, the garter snake in the Yamaska River. It also seems that the water snake would be present in Quilliams Creek following the discovery of environmental DNA.
Amphibians
Anurans (toads and frogs) and Urodeles (salamanders, mudpuppies and newts) are represented in Quebec by 11 and 10 species respectively. At Brome Lake,inventoryof 2011 confirmed the presence of 7 relatively well-dispersed anurans (except Inverness Creek) in the various wetlands: the American toad, the wood frog, the northern frog, the northern leopard frog, the green frog, the bullfrog and gray tree frog. In addition, it was possible to identify several Anuran breeding sites in wetlands.
As for the Urodeles, 4 species were seen: the two-lined salamander, the four-toed salamander, the ash salamander and the northern dusky salamander.
Fish
Over the years, 30 species of fish have been found in Brome Lake, its seven tributaries and their wetlands. Following an inventory in 2011, two species caught the attention of biologists. It's about meborn of grass and chain pickerel. These fish are considered to be in a precarious situation in Quebec. Indeed, the meGrassborn is considered Vulnerable in Quebec while Chain Pickerel is likely to be designated as Threatened or Vulnerable.
Arthropods and molluscs
Mammals
No inventory of Brome Lake mammals has been done to date, except in the Quilliams-Durrull reserve. On this territory under conservation, the snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) and the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are present.
