Secrets of the Trail

By: Kate Jaczko

In some ways, I’ve been a birder all my life. My mother and grandmother both are avid birders and always had a dog-eared copy of Peterson’s Guide to Eastern North American Birds available (there was always one copy in the car and another in the house because “you never know when you’ll need it!”). As a small child, I enjoyed looking at the pictures – owls being my favourite – these older copies my family still owns naturally flip open to the owl spread from overuse during my early birding years.

As an adult, birding came to me in my late twenties. Despite having spent a lot of time in the wild, both hiking many sections of the Bruce and on various adventure trips all over Ontario, I rarely, if ever, saw the animals for which Ontario is known (moose, bear, wolves, beaver, otters, etc). One May long weekend, I was at a cottage and noticed a small bird outside the window. Curious, I grabbed a dusty and neglected pair of binoculars that were lying around, fitted them to my eyes, and managed to focus on the tiny creature. I took note of the distinctive orange head and black and white markings. Searching around the cottage, I found a field guide (an ancient edition), where I managed to identify the bird as a beautiful male Blackburnian Warbler (I would later learn that this is what birders call a “spark” bird). Thrilled with my discovery and curiosity peaked, I started looking for other birds around the area and managed to identify over 30 distinct species over the weekend. I was shocked to discover these jewel-bright beauties with abundant colours and patterns. They looked tropical, not something you would expect to see in the Canadian Boreal Forest. It was then I realized I had always been surrounded by abundant wildlife – I just needed to learn to look.  

Living in the Blue Mountains area of the Bruce Trail, we are lucky to be surrounded by amazing landscapes with excellent and varied bird-viewing opportunities. What you will see along our trails varies with the seasons. Spring is the best time for birding due to the large number of migrants on the wing coupled with the lack of full leaves on the trees, making it easier to spot our fine feathered friends, many of whom are simply passing through on their way further north. For spring warblers, the trails through the forest along the edges of the escarpment, such as within the Nottawasaga Bluffs Conservation area, are excellent. If you decide to do the larger loop within the Bluffs through the western fields of this Conservation area, keep an eye out for Indigo Buntings, which tend to stick to the edges of forests. For interesting field birds, I recommend the section of trail from Concession 10 South Nottawasaga to the McLeod property. You’ll likely spot Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlarks, and Bluebirds in the fields on either side of the trail. Lastly, if you are interested in waterfowl such as the Blue Winged Teal or Hooded Mergansers, the millpond along the Mad River Side Trail between Devil’s Glen Country Club and Glen Huron is a great place to see these early spring migrants. In the evening, you may also see (or hear) an Eastern Screech Owl or Barred Owl – I’ve seen both within this section of the trail. 

Virtually every section of our beloved Bruce Trail contains these secret wonders of the tree tops. Each new species that returns to us in the spring gives me a jolt of excitement, and I feel as if I’m welcoming back an old friend. Nowadays, with excellent free tools like Merlin and eBird, you can have a field guide on your phone and even use the audio SoundID function to help you identify what you are seeing and hearing. I highly recommend a quiet walk in the early morning or about an hour before sunset – you never know what you might see, and you just might get hooked!