Nature & Discovery.
Short Hills Provincial Park protects 660.55 ha of Niagara Escarpment Carolinian forest with more than 23 km of trails — the largest Carolinian forest patch in St. Catharines's catchment.
Closer to the city, the NPCA's St. John's Conservation Area on the Twelve Mile Creek valley adds a second interior-forest birding spot, and the Lake Ontario shoreline at Port Dalhousie and Sunset Beach gives waterfowl, gull, and migrant viewing across the open lake.
The brief.
The Niagara Peninsula sits on a major North American migratory flyway, and the combination of Lake Ontario shoreline (Port Dalhousie, Sunset Beach), Carolinian forest (Short Hills, St. John's Conservation Area), and reservoir / wetland habitat (Lake Gibson and the surrounding NPCA system, accessible from St.
Catharines although the Mel Swart Lake Gibson Conservation Park itself is in Thorold) gives the city a layered birding offer. Short Hills is the deepest Carolinian forest patch — Carolinian-zone species like tulip tree and black walnut anchor the trail names.
Best birding seasons are spring (May) and fall (August through October); mid-October catches Carolinian colour at Short Hills.
4. places.
- 01
Short Hills Provincial Park
660.55 ha of Niagara Escarpment Carolinian forest; 23+ km of trails through interior forest.
- 02
St. John's Conservation Area (NPCA)
Niagara Escarpment / Twelve Mile Creek valley; four trails through interior forest.
- 03
Lake Ontario shoreline (Port Dalhousie / Sunset Beach)
Open-lake gull, waterfowl, and migrant viewing.
- 04
Lake Gibson area
NPCA reservoir system above the Niagara Escarpment; re-naturalized waterfowl habitat (Mel Swart Lake Gibson Conservation Park is in Thorold but accessible from St. Catharines).
Today's read.
Cold but firm — winter-ready conditions · light winds · clean air.