NCC Trail 10 - Eastern Ontario Birding

Hi there,

My favourite Nature trail in Ottawa is Shirleys Bay Waterfront Trail (National Capital Commission Trail 10). It is just E of Shirleys Bay. To me, the Trail 10 network represents the torso of the body of simply the best birding areas this city has to offer. The limbs of this body extend W to Shirleys Bay and Innis Point Bird Observatory and E to Andrew Haydon Park and Britannia Conservation Area. This entire area, from Innis Point to Britannia Conservation Area, is birded heavily and for very good reason; it is phenomenal during spring and fall migration. Shirleys Bay Waterfront Trail is the perfect birding microcosm for landbird migration during spring and fall; it is the ideal area to learn about migration timing and work on ID skills (esp. songs and calls). I approach birding along this trail network as a form of long term migration monitoring studies; a serious and scientific (but still fun) solo-birding undertaking. In this way, I focus my efforts in one area and provide for myself a high quality effort and important note-taking and abundance estimates exercises as I build both field skills and an understanding of each species’ migration timing in eastern Ontario. My appetite for variety in birding locations is satiated through trip leading field birding outings throughout eastern Ontario.

Photo: A Google satellite view screen-cap of the area. To the west is Shirleys Bay, including the dyke; to the east is Britannia Conservation Area. The NCC Trail 10 study area is enclosed in yellow.

2016 eBird Checklists

April 11: http://ebird.org/ebird/canada/view/checklist?subID=S28887540

April 18: http://ebird.org/ebird/canada/view/checklist?subID=S29039086

April 21: http://ebird.org/ebird/canada/view/checklist?subID=S29102435

April 25: http://ebird.org/ebird/canada/view/checklist?subID=S29197483

May 2: http://ebird.org/ebird/canada/view/checklist?subID=S29352139

May 5: http://ebird.org/ebird/canada/view/checklist?subID=S29424341

May 9: http://ebird.org/ebird/canada/view/checklist?subID=S29523814

May 19: http://ebird.org/ebird/canada/view/checklist?subID=S29786455

May 31: http://ebird.org/ebird/canada/view/checklist?subID=S30023289

August 22: http://ebird.org/ebird/canada/view/checklist/S31198275

August 26: http://ebird.org/ebird/canada/view/checklist/S31259394