It was really hard to get this list down to only 10 spots.. there are just so many cool places in Bruce! I may have to continue this post at a later date with my top 20...
Anyway here they are! My favourite birding locations in da Bruce
#10 - Dyer's Bay Road
A good spot year round, Dyers Bay Road has some awesome open/overgrown field habitat and a large area in one field floods most springs. In April it can be a great place to get dabbling ducks and shorebirds, among other things. In the summer it's a reliable spot for Sandhill Crane, American Bittern and occasionly Red-headed Woodpecker. The list of rarities found here over the years is long, so I'll just include some of the best birds; Greater White-fronted Goose, Eurasian Wigeon, Loggerhead Shrike, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Mountain Bluebird, Dickcissel, Henslow's Sparrow.. a pretty solid list of birds! It also seems like a good spot for a Northern Hawk Owl or Gyrfalcon to show up.
#9 - Fathom Five Marine National Park- Observation Tower
I've only birded this spot a few times (in April) and even though the days I visited weren't overly productive.. I really like the spot. On eBird the hotspot only has 59 species, but hardly anyone has birded it. I mean yes, a tower on the Lake Huron side would be ideal.. but I'll take it! If you want to see some pics of the tower click Here.
In the spring the Tobermory area gets massive numbers of Turkey Vutltures "stacking up" over the townsite (they need a nice day with S wind to cross to Manitoulin) and the tower is in a great spot to see them. If you spent enough time here each year, I bet you'd get at least one Black Vulture. So yeah, a rather untested spot, but I love its hawkwatching/morning flight potential.
#8 - Lion's Head Harbour
I've spent a lot of time here and really like this little harbour. It's the only place that I get eBird hotspot needs alerts for and I tend to chase anything rare that shows up here. It's a great spot to bird in the winter months, as it can be a good for gulls and rare ducks. In the last 10 years Brant, Common Eider, Harlquin Duck and Barrow's Goldeneye have been recorded here.
#7 - Armow Dump
Gotta have a dump on the list! In my opinion this is the best gull spot in Bruce, for location & the numbers it attracts. I've never had a mega here, but it was where I saw my first Bruce LBBG. I bet a SBGU, MEGU or CAGU will show up bere in the next few years, maybe I'll even find it! (🤞).
#6 - Greenock Swamp
I only discovered this spot last summer, but it's definitely one of my favourite spots in South Bruce. On my first visit I found a few singing Cerulean Warblers, so that was a nice introduction to the place! It has a neat, Carolinian forest feel and kinda reminds me of the Rondeau area. It's a fun place to bird in the summer and has some cool breeding species like; Red-shouldered Hawk, Yellow-throated Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Wood Thrush, both cuckoos and Scarlet Tanager. I could totally see an Acadian Flycatcher or Prothonotary Warbler showing up in the spring.
#5 - Oliphant Shoreline
Obviously I love this spot, as it gave me a Reddish Egret back in 2018! Amazingly, this wasn't the only Ontario first found at Oliphant, in 2013 Michael Bulter found a Eurasian Dotteral here, one of the rarest and most unexpected birds ever seen in the province. Putting the MEGAs aside for a minute, it's just a really cool place to bird. The coastal fens and sheltered inlets are really the only accessible habitat of this kind in Bruce and it's always a good spot to go birding. It's a place I always check in the spring/fall for shorebirds after there's been a rainstorm or heavy wind. The high water level this year has left few good spots for shorebirds, but in some years it's by far the best place for them on the peninsula. In the last 10 years Oliphant has had; Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Red Knot, Willet, Long-billed Dowitcher, Hudsonian Godwit, Piping Plover and American Golden-plover. That's without mentioning other rarities like Black Vulture and American White Pelican.
#4 - Isaac Lake
This cool wetland is only a few kilometers from my house, so that's a major point in it's favour. It's all time list is over 200 species and its variety of habitats make it a good spot for field, wetland and forest species. Some breeding species include; Trumpeter Swan (some years) American Bittern, Black-crowned Night-heron, Black Tern, Sora and Common Loon. It's also had some rare birds... with Yellow Rail, King Rail, Snowy Egret, Cattle Egret and LeConte's Sparrow being highlights. It's a great spot to visit from early spring to late fall and is just a really enjoyable place to bird.
#3 - Baie Du Dore
A large Bay that borders the nuclear power plant, Baie Du Dore is a great for waterbirds. The outflow from the plant allows the bay to remain ice-free long after the rest of Lake Huron freezes in the winter. This attracts a lot of lingering waterfowl and massive numbers of Bald Eagles (sometimes over 70!!). In the winter it's one of the better places to look for uncommon Bruce birds like Little Gull and Canvasback. What rarities have been seen here? Barrow's Goldeneye, Harlquin Duck, King Eider, American White Pelican, Black-headed Gull and Eared Grebe come to mind..
#2 - Point Clark
In extreme southwestern Bruce County, Point Clark (PC) jutts out into Lake Huron farther than anywhere else in Bruce. When standing on the breakwall, you have an awesome line of sight north and south. This spot likely wouldn't be this high on other locals birder's top 10 lists (probably wouldn't even be on their lists), but I just love it here. Lakewatching is one of my favourite birding activities and PC may well be the best spot for it in Bruce. It also has good morning flight potential... I don't bird PC nearly as much as I'd like to, mainly because it's a long drive from my place (over an hour).
Best birds seen here?... Brant (flocks) Harlquin Duck, Forester's Tern, Red Knot, Purple Sandpiper, Jaeger sp and Cave Swallow.
I feel like this spot has good potential for county megas like Sabine's Gull and all the jaegers. For a county that borders a great lake, Bruce really doesn't have many records of stuff like phalaropes, jaegers and Sabine's Gull.. but I'll leave that for another post...
#1 - Kincardine Sewage Lagoons
Dubbed "Pelee North" by local birders, Kincardine Lagoons is a great spot to look for migrants in the spring and fall. The lagoons are quite productive, especially for rare geese in March/April. Adjacent to the lagoons is a large strip of mature deciduous trees, which also has several streams that run through in. Beside the forest is a cemetery with some nice scrubby areas, so there's 3 very different habitats side by side. The lagoon often gets the first warblers of the year and sometimes the forest experiences a fallout of passerines in mid-May. In no way is it like the massive fallouts seen at Point Pelee, but it's pretty good for Bruce County! Some great birds have been seen here including; Cinnamon Teal, Black Vulture, Prothonotary Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Connecticut Warbler.
Am I saying Kincardine Lagoons is my favourite spot in Bruce? I don't know. I really like the hotspot, but I also really like the other locations mentioned above. When I made the list I was trying to put them in order, but it's so hard ranking them! Anyway I think the last 5 are my favourites... in no real order.
So yeah, there's my top 10 list!
I included a map below with all the hotspots I mentioned, not a bad distribution around the county!
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