Birdingpal birdwatching tours in Ontario, Canada

Birdwatching North America with Birdingpaltours

If you are an independent bird watcher who does not care for large group tours then Birdingpaltours is for you.
Do you like to bird with a couple of friends or by yourself, then we have the perfect arrangement for you.
Our tours are flexible, safe and the use of a local guide lets you participate in the planning.
The local guide knows all the hotspots. No more driving around trying to find birds. They will be found for you.
Our tours invariably cost less than the larger organized tours and you get the most out of your trip because you are a member of a small group. Our experience has shown that in trying to organize your own tour you can end up with hidden and unexpected costs.

The Birdingpaltour Birdwatching Experience.

We are birders ourselves and we know what you want. We know that often your time is limited. So we’ll design a tour to fit your needs. We have done the research, we know the best places to go and the best time to go and best of all we’ll provide you with a local guide who knows where the best places are. We’ll also provide you with a self-drive rental car, accommodations and some meals. We’ll provide you with maps and entrance fees into parks. Our tours are flexible, they will fit in with your schedule, 3 or 4 or 6 days you decide. You will be safe as you will be accompanied by a local guide. Our group size limit is 4 people, so you won’t miss a bird because you are at the end of a long line of birders on a single file trail.

Birdwatching in Southern Ontario

Bird watching in Point Pelee and Area.
Most serious birdwatchers have dreamt of visiting the fabulous and world-renowned birding hot spot, Point Pelee National Park on the shores of lake Erie.

"Point Pelee National Park"

Spring in Southern Ontario is a birdwatchers dream. Migration is in full swing, the Southern Carolinian Forests are still budding and those gems of the avian world, the North American Wood Warblers are flitting everywhere. The north shore of Lake Erie, the smallest of the great lakes will be your focus. You will spend time at Long Point and Rondeau Provincial Parks and Point Pelee National Park. These parks have been established around large sand spits that have grown up in this shallow lake and have managed to be conserved from development. Due to their location and protection from development, these migrant traps have remained largely in a natural state and every year they are flooded with returning migrants and are magnets for bird watchers from all over.

"Scarlet Tanager"

You will drive yourself from local to local and enjoy the company of a local expert. You will stay in fabulous Bed and Breakfasts for which Ontario is world-renowned. Scrumptious boxed lunches will save you time in the field. You will be free to experience the local dining experience for dinner. You can set your own pace, bird as long or as little as you wish. The north shore of Lake Erie is famous for its wineries just let us know if you would like winery tours included.
Please note: We also highly recommend this same itinerary in September or October.

Birdingpaltours offers three birding tours in Southern Ontario

6 day The Pelee Experience

4 day The Boreal Forest in the Fall Experience

6 day The Algonquin Presqu'll Experience

Birdingpaltours offers three birding tours in the Greater Ottawa Area

4 day Ottawa Special including Algonquin Park

4 day Ottawa Special including Presqu'll Provincial Park

4 day Ottawa Special including Prince Edward County

Tour I

THE PELEE EXPERIENCE

Day 1.
Toronto to Long Point.
Your rental car will be available at the agency this morning. You will then drive to Long Point. There will be a map and directions to Long Point. We will arrange for your private guide to meet you at a prearranged location or get in touch with you beforehand to make arrangements to get together. The drive to Long Point is through the industrial heartland of S. Ontario and then out into the rich farming country south and west of Toronto. You should leave your self about 3 hours driving time. American kestrels and Red-tailed Hawks are everywhere along the country roads.
Long Point is a unique birding area that has a great variety of spring migrants, and a good sampling of the local birds in suitable habitat. You will spend some time at the world famous Long Point Bird Observatory where Bird Studies Canada conducts bird banding every spring and fall season. At the observatory and in the park and surrounding marshes and farmland you will be looking for Wood Duck, Bald Eagle, Cooper`s and Sharp-shinned Hawks, Broad-winged Hawks, Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks. In the marshes you will be looking for Sora and Virginia Rails, Black-crowned Night Herons, American and Least Bittern and Green Herons. The woods and thickets should provide good looks at Black-capped Chickadee, Eastern Kingbird and those confusing Empidonax After a superb and interesting day’s birding in Long Point you'll drive to Rondeau Provincial Park.
Lunch.
Overnight B&B near Blenheim.
Day 2.
Rondeau Provincial Park.
You’ll meet your local guide at a prearranged place and time and make your way into Rondeau Provincial Park. This park is the second oldest park in the Ontario Provincial park system. It lies deep in the Carolinian Forest zone. It is home to such southern species as Tulip Tree, Sassafras, and Opossum. It was formed by the deposition of sand and gravel from the last ice age and extends out into Lake Erie for 8 kilometres. It is a haven for migrating birds throughout the spring and fall, beginning with vast flocks of Tundra Swans in the spring and thousands of Hawks in the fall, this is a birdwatchers paradise. You will explore this great Provincial park with your local guide looking for the rare and endangered Prothonotary Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Black and Yellow-billed Cuckoos and Scarlet Tanagers. After an action packed day in Rondeau you will drive to Point Pelee, the birdwatcher’s Mecca in North America.
Breakfast and lunch.
Overnight B&B in the Leamington area.
Day 3, 4 and 5.
Point Pelee National Park.
You will spend most of the next 3 days exploring the famous Point Pelee and environs.
Point Pelee is the smallest national Park in Canada but what it lacks in size in makes up with sheer numbers of birds and bird species. More than 30 species of American Wood Warblers have been seen here in one day. Worm-eating, Cerulean and Connecticut Warblers are but a few possibilities here. Red-headed Woodpecker, Wood Thush and Yellow-breasted Chat are common.
You will enjoy the Pelee experience as friendly bird watchers help each other finding the rarer species such as American Woodcock, Little Gull, Red-headed Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Philadelphia Vireo, Gray-cheeked Thrush.
Breakfast and lunch.
Overnight B&B Leamington area.
Day 6.
Return to Toronto.
You will make your way back to the Toronto area and return your rental car. Be sure to have it back on time to avoid extra charges. Allow your self 5 hours to drive back from Pelee to Toronto. Your tour ends after breakfast on day 6.
Breakfast.

Please note:
The itinerary described in these notes is intended as an example only. In the event of weather changes, logistical arrangements, or other problems, Birdingpaltours may make changes to the published itinerary. Birdingpaltours reserves the right to make changes in guides, rental cars and accommodations.

6 Days tour price is: 2 People C$1125 per person. 4 People C$700 per person.
Please ask for single supplement rates.

Convert your tour cost into your currency of choice.

Included:
Rental Car For 6 days, 5 Breakfasts, 5 Lunches, 5 nights accommodation, Local guides and Entrance Fees
Excluded:
Gasoline and insurance for the car, Dinners, Alcoholic drinks, Phone calls of a personal nature, Costs incurred due to mechanical failure of the rental vehicle or other emergencies and Fines or tolls.

THE BOREAL FOREST IN THE FALL

Algonquin Park

Algonquin Park is an easy 3 hours drive north of Toronto and lies east of the town of Huntsville on Highway 60. This magnificent, largely unspoilt wilderness area, was established in 1893 as a wildlife sanctuary. It is a mixed Boreal and Laurentian Hardwood Forest area covered in lakes and rivers and famous for its canoe portages. The interior of the park is only accessible by canoe, but a number of trails and logging roads make it possible to have a true wilderness experience in relative comfort. Birdwatchers come to Algonquin for the Boreal Species that it is possible to see here. Black-backed, Three-toed and Pileated Woodpeckers can be found here. Gray Jays, Boreal Chickadee and Spruce Grouse are at the limit of their range. Great Horned and Barred Owls occur in good numbers in the park.

"Fall colours in Algonquin Park"

"Pine Grosbeak"

"Spruce Grouse"

Day 2 and 3.
Birding in the Park
After a hearty breakfast in your comfortable inn or Bed and Breakfast you will meet your local expert at your prearranged time and place and go birding in the park looking for Spruce Grouse, Boreal Chickadee, Gray Jay and Black-backed Woodpecker. Other species include Evening Grosbeak, Sharp-Shinned Hawk, Common Loon, Bald Eagle, Blue Jay, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, Chipping, Savannah and Lincoln’s Sparrow.
Breakfast and lunch.
Overnight B&B near Algonquin Park.
Day 4 and 5.
Heading for Presqu’ile Provincial Park
Allow yourself about 3 hours for a comfortable drive to Presqu’ile Provincial Park. After you meet with your local guide you will decide how you want to spend your time in the various sections of the park.
Along the beaches you will find abundant waders of all descriptions. Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Sanderlings, Stilt and Solitary Sandpipers Dunlin, Pectoral, Least and Semi-palmated Sandpipers comb the algae mats for the myriad insects. Dunlin will be numerous with White-rumped and Baird’s Sandpipers in among the flocks. Semi-palmated and Black-bellied Plovers are quite common. Buff-breasted Sandpipers put in a regular fall visit. Keep an eye overhead as at this time of year raptors pass by in numbers. The occasional Peregrine Falcon or Merlin will put up the wader flocks. Caspian terns also patrol the shallow waters of lake Ontario, as do many Ring-billed and Bonaparte’s Gulls.
From the marsh boardwalk you will find Red-winged Blackbirds, Swamp Sparrow and Marsh Wren, American Coot and Moorhen, American Bittern, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Pied-billed and Horned Grebes. Green Herons and Black-crowned Night Herons skulk in the reeds.
In the bay look for Mallard and Black Ducks, American Widgeon, Green and Blue-winged Teal and Common Goldeneye. Bald eagles can be seen here. Other areas such as woodland trails will produce Black-capped Chickadee, American Robin, Downy and Pileated Woodpecker. Lots of wood warblers are moving through at this time of year, their fall plumages will be a challenge. Even R.T. Peterson called them “ confusing fall warblers”. You will look for Yellow-rumped, Golden- winged, Tennessee, Palm, Prairie and Blue-winged warblers. Open savannah areas such as Calf Pasture Point can turn up Olive-sided Flycatchers, Eastern Kingbirds, Least Flycatchers, Savannah and Field Sparrows.
You will enjoy your two days here in the fall especially if the Monarch Butterfly migration is in full swing.
Breakfast and lunch.
Overnight B&B near Presqu’ile.
Day 6.
Back to Toronto.
On your way back to Toronto you should visit the Cranberry Marsh Hawk Watch. Some one is there every day from Mid August to the end of November. On a day when the winds are right Red-tailed Broad-winged, Red-shouldered, Sharp-shinned, Cooper’s Hawks and American Kestrels pass through in numbers. Bald and Golden Eagles are possible and Turkey Vultures are plentiful.
Your organized tour stops on this morning. You are encouraged to return the rental car by the deadline. You should allow about 3 hours from Presqu’ile to Toronto.
Breakfast.

Please note: The itinerary described in these notes is intended as an example only. We will design a tour that fits your time constraints and interests if you wish. In the event of weather changes, logistical arrangements, or other problems, Birdingpaltours may make changes to the published itinerary. Birdingpaltours reserves the right to make changes in guides, rental cars and accommodations.

6 Days tour price is: 2 People C$1125 per person. 4 People C$695 per person.
Please ask for single supplement rates.

Convert your tour cost into your currency of choice.

Included:
This price includes: Rental Car For 6 days, 5 Breakfasts, 5 Lunches, 5 nights accommodation 2 persons sharing, Local guides, Entrance Fees.
Excluded:
It does not include: Gasoline and insurance for the car, Dinners, Alcoholic drinks, Phone calls of a personal nature.
Please note: For groups of more than 4 people a different price structure will apply. Please emails us for details.

BIRDING IN THE GREATER OTTAWA AREA

The Ottawa Valley is a beautiful place with much unspoiled country. The Canadian Shield, to the north, has a northern flavour with a good mix of coniferous and deciduous vegetation. Two main river systems act as migratory corridors and attract a lot of birds. The St. Lawrence Lowlands have fertile agricultural lands with fragmented woods and a few significant lagoons, wetlands and bogs. Each season in the Ottawa valley is quite unique for its changing vegetation and bird life. Depending on the time of year that you visit your experience will change from season to season.
Regardless of when you visit Ottawa, there is always some thing to see and do. As the nation’s capital, Ottawa has many famous museums and the seat of government, Parliament Hill. There is a fantastic display of tulips every spring as the city plants bulbs in much of the many open spaces for which Ottawa is famous.
A typical birding tour would spend one or two days in and around Ottawa and a side trip to one of Algonquin Park, Presqu’ile Provincial Park or Prince Edward Point. Much will depend on the time of year of your visit.
The fall is a great time for birding in Ottawa. A lot of birds are on the move, in particular shorebirds, flycatchers, swallows and warblers. Various staging areas are very active and dynamic, with birds arriving almost on a daily basis. Although large flocks are elusive, good diversity is present. This is the time of year that has the greatest potential for rarities in the Ottawa area. Depending on migratory conditions, you can expect close to 100 species in a couple of days.
In the Ottawa area, rivers, lagoons and the NCC Greenbelt trails are worth a visit. Possible birds include Wood Duck, Redhead, Osprey, Whimbrel, Short-billed Dowitcher, Baird's Sandpiper, Red-necked Phalarope, Great-crested Flycatcher, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Marsh Wren, Tennessee Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, American Redstart, Swamp Sparrow. After a day birding the nations capital you will travel to Algonquin Provincial Park.

OTTAWA SPECIAL INCLUDING ALGONQUIN PARK ALGONQUIN PARK

Algonquin Provincial Park lies about 2 hours east of Ottawa by Highways 17 and 60.This magnificent, largely unspoilt wilderness area, was established in 1893 as a wildlife sanctuary. It is a mixed Boreal and Laurentian Hardwood Forest area covered in lakes and rivers and famous for its canoe portages. The interior of the park is only accessible by canoe but a number of trails and logging roads make it possible to have a true wilderness experience in relative comfort. Birdwatchers come to Algonquin for the Boreal Species that it is possible to see here. Black-backed, Three-toed and Pileated Woodpeckers can be found in the park. Gray Jays, Boreal Chickadee and Spruce Grouse are at the limit of their range. Great Horned and Barred Owls occur in good numbers here.

"Long-eared Owl"

The fall in Algonquin Park is spectacular. The Sugar Maples, Yellow and Silver Birches vie with each other to produce the most incredible cavalcade of colour imaginable. The air is crisp and clear and there are no annoying bugs to spoil a walk in the woods. It is possible to see Moose along the roadside and in the spruce bogs and beaver ponds that are common along the highway in the park.

Tour IV

OTTAWA SPECIAL INCLUDING ALGONQUIN PARK

Day 1.
Birding in the Ottawa Area.
You will pick up your rental car and meet with your local guide today. You and your guide will spend the day birding the many good birding hot spots of the nation’s capital City.
Lunch.
Overnight B&B Ottawa area.
Day 2 and 3. Algonquin Park.
After a hearty breakfast in your comfortable inn or Bed and Breakfast you will meet your local expert at your prearranged time and place and go birding in the park looking for Spruce Grouse, Boreal Chickadee, Gray Jay and Black-backed Woodpecker. Other species include Evening Grosbeak, Sharp-Shinned Hawk, Common Loon, Bald Eagle, Blue Jay, Downy and hairy Woodpeckers, Chipping, Savannah and Lincoln’s Sparrow.
Breakfast and lunch.
Overnight B&B near Algonquin Park.
Day 4. Drive back to the Ottawa area.
You will spend today birding those areas of Ottawa that were not covered on day 1.
Breakfast and lunch.

4 Days tour price is: 2 People C$780 per person. 4 People C$495 per person.
Please ask for single supplement rates.

Convert your tour cost into your currency of choice.

Included:
This price includes: Rental Car For 4 days, 4 Breakfasts, 4 Lunches, 3 nights accommodation 2 persons sharing, Local guides, Entrance Fees.
Excluded:
It does not include: Gasoline and insurance for the car, Dinners, Alcoholic drinks, Phone calls of a personal nature.
Please note: For groups of more than 4 people a different price structure will apply. Please emails us for details.

Tour V

OTTAWA SPECIAL INCLUDING PRESQUILE PROVINCIAL PARK

Day 1.
Birding in the Ottawa Area.
You will pick up your rental car and meet with your local guide today. You and your guide will spend the day birding the many good birding hot spots of the nation’s capital City.
Lunch.
Overnight B&B Ottawa area.

"Pileated Woodpecker"

Day 2 and 3.
Heading for Presqu’ile Provincial Park.
Allow yourself about 3 hours for a comfortable drive to Presqu’ile Provincial Park. After you meet with your local guide you will decide how you want to spend your time in the various sections of the park. Along the beaches you will find abundant waders of all descriptions. Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Sanderlings, Stilt and Solitary Sandpipers Dunlin, Pectoral, Least and Semi-palmated Sandpipers comb the algae mats for the myriad insects. Dunlin will be numerous with White-rumped and Baird’s Sandpipers in among the flocks. Semi-palmated and Black-bellied Plovers are quite common. Buff-breasted Sandpipers put in a regular fall visit. Keep an eye overhead as at this time of year raptors pass by in numbers. The occasional Peregrine Falcon or Merlin will put up the wader flocks. Caspian terns also patrol the shallow waters of lake Ontario, as do many Ring-billed and Bonaparte’s Gulls.
From the marsh boardwalk you will find Red-winged Blackbirds, Swamp Sparrow and Marsh Wren, American Coot and Moorhen, American Bittern, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Pied-billed and Horned Grebes. Green Herons and Black-crowned Night Herons skulk in the reeds.
In the bay look for Mallard and Black Ducks, American Widgeon, Green and Blue-winged Teal and Common Goldeneye. Bald eagles can be seen here. Other areas such as woodland trails will produce Black-capped Chickadee, American Robin, Downy and Pileated Woodpecker. Lots of wood warblers are moving through at this time of year, their fall plumages will be a challenge. Even R.T. Peterson called them “ confusing fall warblers”. You will look for Yellow-rumped, Golden- winged, Tennessee, Palm, Prairie and Blue-winged warblers. Open savannah areas such as Calf Pasture Point can turn up Olive-sided Flycatchers, Eastern Kingbirds, Least Flycatchers, Savannah and Field Sparrows.
You will enjoy your two days here in the fall especially if the Monarch Butterfly migration is in full swing.
Breakfast and lunch.
Overnight B&B near Presqu’ile.
Day 4.
Drive back to the Ottawa area.
You will spend today birding those areas of Ottawa that were not covered on day 1.
Breakfast and lunch.

4 Days tour price is: 2 People C$780 per person. 4 People C$495 per person.
Please ask for single supplement rates.

Convert your tour cost into your currency of choice.

Included:
This price includes: Rental Car For 4 days, 4 Breakfasts, 4 Lunches, 3 nights accommodation 2 persons sharing, Local guides, Entrance Fees.
Excluded:
It does not include: Gasoline and insurance for the car, Dinners, Alcoholic drinks, Phone calls of a personal nature.
Please note: For groups of more than 4 people a different price structure will apply. Please emails us for details.

Tour VI

OTTAWA SPECIAL INCLUDING PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY

Prince Edward County or simply “the county” has been described as a world class birding location and boasts of the highest concentration of migratory birds anywhere on the Canadian side of Lake Ontario. It is an irregularly shaped peninsula deeply indented by the Bay of Quinte on the northeastern shore of Lake Ontario. It has a great diversity of flora and fauna and a very favourable climate, which supports a number of varied habitats including mixed farming operations, both deciduous and hardwood forests and some significant marshes. It was designated a Globally Important Birding Area in 1998. It is a natural migrant trap both in the spring and fall. Perhaps the most productive area for the visiting birder is Prince Edward Point.

Day 1.
Birding in the Ottawa Area.
You will pick up your rental car and meet with your local guide today. You and your guide will spend the day birding the many good birding hot spots of the nation’s capital. City. In the Ottawa area, rivers, lagoons and the NCC Greenbelt trails are worth a visit. Possible birds include Wood Duck, Redhead, Osprey, Whimbrel, Short-billed Dowitcher, Baird's Sandpiper, Red-necked Phalarope, Great-crested Flycatcher, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Marsh Wren, Tennessee Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, American Redstart, Swamp Sparrow. After a day birding the nations capital you will either travel to Prince Edward County or spend the evening relaxing in Ottawa.
Lunch.
Overnight B&B Ottawa area.
Day 2 and 3.
Heading for Prince Edward County.
The county is about three hours comfortable driving from Ottawa. Once you meet with your guide you will embark on a birding adventure. The actual route and places you visit will be determined by which birds you want to see. You and your guide will determine the best use of your time.
In the wetlands and along the shoreline it is possible to see Great Egret and Great Blue Herons. Pied-billed grebes are common. Many waterfowl start to stage over at this time of year. Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Long-tailed Ducks, Blue and Green–winged Teal are everywhere on the bays. The woods will turn up Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Red-bellied, Downey and Hairy Woodpeckers along with Brown Creepers, Red and White-breasted Nuthatches and Kinglets. Hermit, Swainson's, Grey-checked Thrushes and Veerys are quite common. The woodlots and hedgerows will be alive with migrating wood warblers. Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Blue, Blackburnian, Palm, Prairie, and Nashville to name but a few of these colourful gems. Flycatchers include Least, Eastern Wood Peewee, Yellow-bellied and Great Crested. Blue-headed and Warbling Vireos are possible.
Breakfast and lunch.
Overnight B&B in one of the county’s famous bed and breakfasts.
Day 4.
Drive back to the Ottawa area.
You will spend today birding those areas of Ottawa that were not covered on day 1 or looking for any rarities that might have shown up on the hotlines.
Breakfast and lunch.

4 Days tour price is: 2 People C$780 per person. 4 People C$495 per person.
Please ask for single supplement rates.

Convert your tour cost into your currency of choice.

Included:
This price includes: Rental Car For 4 days, 4 Breakfasts, 4 Lunches, 3 nights accommodation 2 persons sharing, Local guides, Entrance Fees.
Excluded:
It does not include: Gasoline and insurance for the car, Dinners, Alcoholic drinks, Phone calls of a personal nature.

Please note: For groups of more than 4 people a different price structure will apply. Please emails us for details.

Notes:
The above birding itineraries are based on what are essentially popular routes for birders. It can be shortened or extended.
All the date of itineraries include arrival and departure dates.
All trips are available year round, but prices may be adjusted around special holidays.
Minimum lead time 4 weeks.
To check availability for tours on short notice, fill out “Request for Quote” form with desirable dates.
Fitness:
Moderate but quite a bit of walking involved on mostly flat terrain.
Note: The lists of birds and information that we provide are examples only and generally reflect conditions that exist in the summer months, i.e. May to September.

Electronic map of Ontario

Guide books and CD’s recommended:

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 5th edition
The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America, D Sibley Knopf 2003
Find lowest prices here

Bird Recordings from Ontario

www.birdsounds.nl

Complete package tour including air and ground fares is available upon request:

Many of our destinations require multiple flight connections, and it is very important you are protected if complications arise. Our experienced travel consultants are well trained in booking complicated itineraries, not only to obtain the most economical pricing, but also to make sure you are protected, should delays or other complications occur.
For a quote please request it on the form below.


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