RFI - Canada May/June 2010 (1 Viewer)

My wife and I are off to Canada in May/June next year for 4 weeks. The primary purpose is to visit her two sisters - one lives near Long Point on Lake Erie, Ontario and the other lives near Halifax Nova Scotia - but that we will also do birding. The idea is that we will fly to Ontario and after a few days to take in migration (Long Point etc.) we will drive (with my sister-in-law in her car) to Nova Scotia through Canada stopping en route at birding locations (Algonquin??). We will then spend about 10 days in Nova Scotia before heading back to Ontario through Northern USA (NY, Vermont - Adirondack??). After a few days in Ontario again we will fly home. So basically I am looking for recommends for birding places to visit along the way (without going hundreds of miles off route) and in Nova Scotia.

Thanks in advance.

Hi
I can give you a bit of help since I have been living in Toronto for just over a year now. Long Point itself is a good place for birding. It is one of the best places in Ontario for Cerulean and Hooded Warblers. Hooded are easy to see - Cerulean are not becuase they stay up in the canopy. Acadian Flycatchers were in the area this summer.

Obviously you are not too far from the major migration hotspots like Pelee.

As you drive north east through Ontario, Algonquin is worth a trip if you are after Boreal species like Spruce and Ruffed Grouse, various raptors, Boreal Chickadee, Gray Jay (they will eat from your hand), Black-Backed Woodpecker etc. Many warblers and flycatchers. I had Olive-Sided Flycatcher there this summer (listen for "Quick, 3 beers!"). Take some bug spray. Try the Wolf Howl pond track.

A bit south of Algonquin, I would recommend a trip to Carden Alvar for grassland species like Upland Sandpiper, Loggerhead Shrike, various sparrows, Bluebirds, Golden-Winged Warblers etc. Also extensive reedbeds there for Sora, Virginia Rail, Sedge and Marsh Wren, American and maybe Least Bittern. Sometimes there are Yellow Rail, but good luck trying to see one. At dusk there are Common Nighthawk and Whip-Poor-Will.

I haven't ventured further east yet (its a big place) but that should get you started. Let me know if you want more details.

Al.

Thanks Al