This intensive 3-day workshop will explore various habitats on and off the Canadian shield, providing in-depth experience with over 150 species by sight and song, with a special effort to see as many Species at Risk as possible.  Through repeated exposure and practice, students will learn how to identify birds by sight, song, and call and the habitats in which they are typically found.  This will provide excellent grounding for people working in biological surveying. Because there is much to see and limited time to cover many important areas, our days will be long, covering most of the daylight hours with (hopefully) a short break before dinner.

 

Highlights include:

 

• Exploring wetlands, alvars, grasslands, forests, and other ecosystems for high species diversity

• Targeted searches for endangered birds like Loggerhead Shrike, Piping Plover, and Whip-poor-will

• Developing expertise in the visual and acoustic identification of birds

• Learning about habitat associations and the conservation status of species​

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The Course at a Glance​

Day One

We begin at the Marsh Boardwalk Trail Parking Lot (Presqu’ile Provincial Park) at 0600h, searching for, searching for American and Least Bittern, rails, Marsh Wrens and other wetland specialists.  Afterward, we will check the Presqu’ile Beach for the Endangered Piping Plover and other arctic-bound shorebirds.  The remainder of the day will be spent looking for land birds, including Red-headed Woodpeckers (Endangered).  After dinner, we will check out a few local grassland areas, ending at dusk listening for Whip-poor-will (Endangered) and Common Nighthawk (Endangered).We will begin early on the Shield, starting at Sheffield CA and working south through the edge of the Shield habitats. This area has a high diversity of species, so we should see lots of birds.​​

 

Day Two

We will head out early at 0400h to visit several outstanding sites that are particularly rich in biodiversity, or have specialty birds we might not see anywhere else on our route. The first stop will be at the Napanee Plain, a rare alvar habitat that is rich in grassland species such as Grasshopper, Field, Vesper and Savannah Sparrow, Upland Sandpiper, Bobolink, Eastern Meadowlark ,and the highly endangered Loggerhead Shrike.

 

From here we head north to the Sheffield Conservation Area, making a few brief stops en route for specialty birds. Sheffield is a beautiful, forested habitat on the Canadian Shield and is rich in species diversity.  We will hike some of the trails here looking and listening for a broad mix of species including several vireos, a dozen or more warblers, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Scarlet Tanager, several woodpeckers, hawks and more. A specialty we will search for is the rare Prairie Warbler, along with Field Sparrow and Eastern Towhee which occur in the same habitat.  We will work our way back to Trenton in time for a short break before dinner.  After dinner we will travel slightly north-west to spend the evening in another grassland area where American Woodcock and Whip-poor-will display and sing at dusk.

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Day Three

Our final day begins with a visit to the sprawling Murray Marsh, a very large wetland on the Trent River that contains various wetland habitats like cattail marsh, alder swamp and forested wetland. Canada Warbler, Alder Flycatcher, Purple Finch, American Bittern, Wood Duck and Sandhill Crane all nest here along with a number of other interesting species.  Once we have finished covering this area we will make some strategic decisions on where we spend the rest of the day, mostly in an effort to locate any “missing” birds. The course will end in the late afternoon.

 

Please note: We may change the order of things if weather conditions present unanticipated issues.

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​Location and Accommodations

Participants are encouraged to stay at the Trenton Comfort Inn.