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Bird Hotspots
This selection of places to bird in the South Peel region (Halton and Peel Counties
south
of Derry Road) illustrates the simple fact that you don't have to travel far
to find interesting birding and GOOD birds. It's hard to predict what you might
find on a given outing but repeat visits over the course of time can generate very
interesting lists and may even add new species to the area's checklist. Keep us
informed of your sightings.
Directions to locations are noted after each hotspot description. The site maps
are a courtesy of MapArt Publishing - Golden Horseshoe atlas, and were prepared
by Mike Foell
of the MapArt Cartographic Team and a member of our Club.
Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG)
(View Map )
The extensive holdings of the RBG offer some of the best land and wetland birding in the district.
For information on trails and extensive land holding of the RBG visit the Centre itself and ask
helpful volunteers for further information and maps. The entrance to the Hendrie Valley trail system
is directly across Plains Road from the west end of the Visitors' Center and is a good starting point.
DIRECTIONS: From the QEW take Hwy 403 west towards Hamilton. Exit at Hwy 6 north (exit 93) towards
Guelph. Turn right at the first lights (Plains Road) and follow the signs to the RBG Center.
Woodland Cemetery
(View Map )
Located on Spring Gardens Road near the Royal Botanical Gardens Centre , Woodlands Cemetery is
noted for warblers during spring migration and is the site of an informal hawk watch in the fall.
DIRECTIONS: From the QEW take Hwy 403 west towards Hamilton. Exit at Hwy 6 north
(exit 93) towards Guelph. Turn right at the first lights (Plains Road) and follow
it to Spring Garden Road located on the right.
LaSalle Park Marina
(View Map )
During the fall and before the freeze-up in early winter, the waters of Burlington Bay are home
to large numbers of diving and dabbling ducks, swans, geese and even a lone male Mandarin Duck.
DIRECTIONS: From the QEW - Niagara . Exit at Brant Street. Turn left on Brant to Plains Road.
Turn right on Plains to LaSalle Park Road. Turn left on LaSalle and follow it to the end, where
the parking lot for Burlington Sailing and Boating Club is the access point to LaSalle Park.
Back to Top
Burlington Waterfront
During the winter Lake Ontario is home to literally hundreds of thousands of wintering waterfowl.
A visit to just a couple of the many access points along the water front can yield good numbers
and occasional vagrant birds. Starting at Spencer Smith Park at the west end of Burlington and
traveling east the following stops in sequence can produce spectacular viewing - Venture Inn, base
of Guelph Line, Sioux Lookout, Walker's Line, Shoreacres Park, Appleby Line and Hampton Park.
DIRECTIONS: From QEW - Niagara. Exit at Brant Street and turn left. Follow Brant to Lakeshore Road.
Turn right on Lakshore for Spenser Smith Park or left to find other locations.
Shell Park
(View Map )
This urban park is mixture of playing fields and picnic areas. Shade trees along the Sheldon Creek
make for interesting songbirds during spring and fall migrations. A small woodlot in the north
east quadrant of the park has been productive during the winter.
DIRECTIONS: Shell Park is accessed from Lakeshore Road between Bronte Road and Burloak Road.
Villagewood Park
(View Map )
A remnant of Bronte Woods is the small stand of White Pine between the established Chalmers Road neighborhood
and the pipeline servicing PetroCan. Probably best in the winter with woodpeckers and owls possible.
DIRECTIONS: From Lakeshore Rd and Bronte Road travel west crossing the bridge, turn right at the first lights,
Mississauga Road, follow this north to Chalmers Road, and turn left. Follow Chalmers as it curves left until
you reach Villagewood Park on your right.
Bronte Harbour
(View Map )
Home to breeding Red-necked Grebes, Bronte Harbour, especially the basin of the Outer Harbour, can be
interesting in all seasons.
DIRECTIONS: From the QEW take the Bronte Road exit south, and follow Bronte to Lake Ontario.
There is free parking near the base of the road.
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Petro Canada Park
(View Map )
This small park situated on the floodplain valley of Bronte Creek (aka Twelve Mile Creek) can
be very productive for warblers and other passerines during spring and fall migration.
DIRECTIONS: From the QEW take Bronte Rd. south, The park is on the left just passed Wyatt Street.
A word of caution, the entrance is a very narrow driveway (occasionally gated) and is easy to miss.
Bronte Creek Provincial Park
(View Map )
Although managed as a recreational facility, Bronte Creek Provincial Park is arguably the best remaining
example of natural habitat in the district. Visits to its varied habitats during the course of the year
will yield most of the woodland birds found in southern Ontario. Bronte Creek itself effectively divides
this park into two. West - half is a developed day-use park. Well maintained trails give hikers direct
access to the valley. East - Until recently the east half has remained in a naturalized state. A portion
of it has been developed for overnight camping. The trail along the top of the east bank of Bronte Creek
has been excellent for spring migrants. A good selection of grassland species nested in the general area
of the new campground.
DIRECTIONS: For the west entrance, take Burloak Rd. north of the QEW to the park entrance which is on the
right. For the east entrance, take the QEW to Bronte Rd. north to Upper Middle Road, and turn left. This
is a dead end road. The campground has a day-use parking lot. User fees are in effect at the park.
Heritage Trail System
(View Map )
The ravines and valleys of Sixteen Mile Creek can be accessed through the Heritage Trail system
developed by the Town of Oakville. Spring migrants, especially warblers, can be seen here.
DIRECTIONS: There are multiple access points to the trails. On the west side of the Creek, a small
parkette with parking off Skyvalley Crescent, Three blocks north Upper Middle Road on the extension
of Dorval Drive. On the east side, access is off Neyagawa Blvd, 100 metres north of Upper Middle Road.
Back to Top
Coronation Park
(View Map )
Less spectacular than some of the waterfront access points, Coronation Park has had
its share of unusual waterfowl including Ross's Goose and Harlequin Duck.
DIRECTIONS: From QEW, take Third Line south to Lakeshore Road and
turn left. The park is located on the south side of LakeshoreRoad.
Joshua Creek
(View Map )
Joshua Creek has many access points south of the QEW. It is also birdable from public
land north of the highway. The following location on the Lake is locally famous on
special days when fog and light rain in the hours before dawn have created warbler
fallout conditions. Waterfowl are often seen on the lake in season.
DIRECTIONS: Take the QEW to Winston Churchill Road and turn south. Continue to Lakeshore Rd
and turn right. Turn left at the first street, Arkendo Drive, and go to the end where there
is a opening to the forest. You can park here and walk into the woods.
Rattray Marsh Conservation Area
(View Map )
Rattray Marsh is a place of moods and seasons. Dependent on an urban channelized yet unpredictable
water source - Sheridan Creek, and a equally unpredictable outlet to Lake Ontario, one never knows
what to expect in the Marsh. Away from the Marsh, wood land trails yield more than a few surprises,
especially during migration. An excellent book - Rattray Marsh - Then and Now (ISBN 0-9693573-0-3)
describes many aspects of the Marsh including birding and the struggle to preserve the Marsh. This
book is available in most branches of the Mississauga library system. Copies can occasionally be
found at local area book stores.
DIRECTIONS: Rattray Marsh is located on Lake Ontario east of Southdown Road in Clarkson. Rattray can
be accessed from the surrounding neighborhood at a number of spots including Green Glades School off
Meadowwood Road. The foot of Bexhill Road is another entrance to the Marsh or go to Jack Darling Park
and walk west along the shore of Lake Ontario.
Back to Top
University of Toronto at Mississauga
(Formerly Erindale College)
(View Map )
Trails linking Saw-mill Valley Creek and the Credit River extend the natural areas on the Erindale
Campus to include a surprising variety of habitats at all seasons. While it has never been an issue
(to my knowledge), the campus may be less accessible when classes are in session.
DIRECTIONS: The campus is located west of Mississauga Road north of Dundas St. Woodland trails along
the upper west bank of the Credit River may also be accessed from the east side of the Credit River
through Erindale Park with parking off of Dundas Street.
Creditview Wetland
(View Map )
You cannot actually visit the Creditview Wetland. Fencing now protects the bog from further encroachment
from recently developed subdivisions that surround it. After a ten year campaign the wetland is now owned
and protected by the City of Mississauga. A spring time walk along the eastern side of the wetland can
yield surprising sightings and sounds including Wood Duck, Virginia Rail and Green Heron.
DIRECTIONS: Access is from a small parkette off Willowvale Gardens east of
Creditview Road and west of Fallingbrook Drive north of Eglinton Avenue.
Rhododendron Gardens
(View Map )
This is a small, manicured urban park on Lake Ontario just west of Mississauga Road. Its paved
paths along a small creek make it one of the most accessible birding areas in the district.
Over the years I have accumulated a list of almost 200 species at this one spot alone.
DIRECTIONS: From QEW, take Mississauga Road south to Lakeshore Road. Turn
right along Lakeshore Road and then left at the lights at Shawnmarr Road.
Lakefront Promenade Marina
(View Map )
The Mississauga waterfront is not as prolific as Burlington's but it should not
be ignored. Lakefront Promenade is only a single example. While reports of Dovekie
and Gyrfalcon are enough to excite any birder south of Greenland, local gull experts
can spend hours studying wintering white-winged gulls at close range.
DIRECTIONS: From QEW, take Cawthra Road south to Lakeshore Road and turn left.
Just past a Tim Hortons on your right, turn right onto Lakefront Promenade .
Back to Top
Marie Curtis Park
(View Map )
This site gets less attention from district birders than it deserves. Located at the mouth
of the Etobicoke Creek, Marie Curtis Park lies on the border with the City of Toronto.
Wooded areas along the Waterfront Trail can generate strange birds at all seasons.
DIRECTIONS: From QEW, take Cawthra Road south to Lakeshore Road and turn left.
Continue past Dixie Road and watch for the park entrance on your right.
| Ontario Beyond the SPNC Area
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We hope this selection of local birding sites will inspire more people to bird and report their
sightings. We also realize that visiting birders will want to cast a larger net. While I find it
hard to recommend a book that calls Mississauga 'an amorphous blob', Clive Goodwin's
A Bird-Finding Guide to Ontario ( ISBN 0-8020-6904-5) has a wealth of information for birding
across the province. It is used and read by most birders living in the Ontario.
Another useful book is A Nature Guide to Ontario (Federation of Ontario Naturalists - 1997)
(ISBN 0-8020-2755-5 or 69\802-2 for paperback edition). This book showcases more than 600
of the best sites in Ontario.
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