One of Ontario’s oldest operating lighthouses is hardly the only attraction at Presqu’ile Provincial Park. A top destination in the province during all seasons, the park is particularly popular in spring and fall, due to the fact that it acts as a staging point for Mexico-bound monarch butterflies and a major flyway for migrating birds. The park is equipped with a long boardwalk, which crosses over the wetlands that help sustain the marsh birds you’ll find here, such as gulls, cormorants, terns and herons, among others.
Birds to see
September: Mourning dove, belted kingfisher, gray catbird, brown thrasher, house wren, hudsonian godwit, common snipe, American woodcock, dunlin, common yellowthroat, blackpoll marsh wren, red-headed woodpecker, yellow-bellied sapsucker, northern flicker, winter wren, yellow-rumped warbler, red-breasted nuthatch, brown creeper, eastern phoebe, hermit thrush, savannah sparrow, and multiple warblers, among others.
October: American woodcock, purple finch, American pipit, brown-headed cowbird, American robin, common grackle, eastern meadowlark, red-winged blackbird, rusty blackbird, horned lark, black-capped chickadee, lapland longspur, common loon, red-breasted merganser, horned grebe, blue-headed vireo, gray-cheeked thrush, northern parula, eastern towhee, red-breasted nuthatch, brown creeper, eastern phoebe, hermit thrush, multiple scoters, sparrows, and warblers, among others.
November: Common loon, red-breasted merganser, horned grebe, redhead, canvasback, bufflehead, common goldeneye, greater scaup, American black duck, ring-necked duck, ruddy duck, common merganser, hooded merganser, and multiple scoters.
How to get there: Presqu’ile Provincial Park is located south of Brighton, Ont., which can be found south of the 401, where County Road 2 and Highway 30 intersect. From Brighton, head west on Main Street toward Proctor Street before turning left on Regional Road 66/Ontario Street. Take a slight right toward Presqu’ile Parkway. Stay on the Parkway until you are brought to the provincial park.
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