On Wednesday and Thursday Ian Cannell and I were visiting friends in Meaford and while in the area we decided to do some Bruce Peninsula birding and despite having to work very hard for the majority of the bird sightings we did come up with 82 species. Not bad considering the almost total lack of Waterfowl, Shorebirds, Swallows, and only 7 Warbler and 4 Sparrow species.
Wednesday morning started off well with the great howling and yipping of a close but invisible family of Coyotes as we watched a pair of Sandhill Cranes. Almost every road had A. Crows, A. Goldfinch and Cedar Waxwings and in fact they were a distraction. Following are some of our sightings during our visit on The Bruce Peninsula.
Common Loons, Pied-billed Grebes, Great Blue Herons, Great Egret, Green Heron, 25 Wood Ducks, Blue-winged Teal, 26 Turkey Vultures, N. Harriers, Broad-winged Hawks, 13 A. Kestrels, 7 Merlins, Ruffed Grouse, Wild Turkeys, 7 Sandhill Cranes, Solitary Sandpipers, Black-billed Cuckoos, Northern Saw-whet Owl, C. Nighthawk, Y-B Sapsucker, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, N. Flickers, Olive-sided Flycatchers, Alder and Least Flycatchers, 25+ E. Kingbirds, 19 C. Ravens, Sedge and House Wrens, E. Bluebirds, many A. Robins, Blue-headed and Philadelphia Vireos, Bobolinks, E. Meadowlarks, 40+ Rusty Blackbirds, 6 Brewer's Blackbirds, 27 Purple Finches, and White-winged Crossbills.
The weather and the company were great and it was a very different experience than the usual June visits up there. For those who care there were many Butterflies and Dragonflies and the leaves are already changing colour.
Directions:-
BRUCE PENINSULA
OWEN SOUND is at the junction of Highways 6, 21 and 26 and is approx. 190 km / 118 miles northwest of Toronto, 120 km / 75 miles west of Barrie, and 210 km / 130 miles north of London.
From Owen Sound proceed west and then north on Hwy 6 to Wiarton ( approx. 32 km / 20 miles ). Continue through Wiarton north on Hwy 6 and you are on the Bruce Peninsula and you can bird any of the roads from Wiarton to Tobermory at the northern tip of the peninsula.
DYERS BAY ROAD, a favourite birding road is approx. ( 56 km / 35 miles ) north of Wiarton.
Some other favourite roads are Cty Rd 170 at Shallow Lake, Ira Lake Rd, Bartley Drive, Lindsay Rd 40 and Crane Lake Rd. All these roads can be located in a Ontario Road Atlas.
