Huron Fringe Birding Festival 2016
We have been coming to MacGregor Point Provincial Park annually for a few years now, mostly to participate in the Huron Fringe Birding Festival. Festival is hosted by the Friends of MacGregor Point Park and is held each year on the first two weekends after the long weekend in May. We decided to change it up a bit this year and arrive a week later. This way we would stay a week beyond the festival to explore the area. We arrived on May 31 and stayed until June 12. Staying a week later would put us in a slightly different time frame than the previous years.
It was our fourth time participating in the Huron Fringe Birding Festival (HFBF). It’s always a fantastic experience for birders and all types of nature lovers. They have a vast range of events with passionate and knowledgeable leaders. It was a great learning experience, plus a chance to meet other people who share the passion for nature appreciation, protection and enjoyment.
MacGregor Point Provincial Park is one of our favourite parks for a variety of reasons. The park is a natural oasis, a little protected wilderness among the towns, farmlands, cottages and public beaches that fill up the Grey Bruce landscape. The Park’s seven kilometre shoreline is rugged and relatively untouched. Because of the location and its natural attraction, many birds pass through the park during spring migration. Wildflowers grow in the forest and along the shores including some beautiful and rare species.
Our timing was a bit off for the bird migration and we missed the peak by more than a couple of weeks. However, we did still see quite a few birds with our count coming in at 74 species. (compared to last year’s high of 80).
Our trip included some great day trips to wonderful places. In Kincardine, we witnessed the authorities remove a Black Bear from a neighbourhood park. Bruce’s Caves Conservation Area contains a stunning landscape and a great variety of wildflowers and ferns. Other hot spots we visited were Bruce Alvar Nature Reserve, Petrel Point Nature Reserve, Oliphant Fen and Inverhuron Provincial Park.
