Birding in Oxford County

Grab your binoculars or camera, pack a lunch and take to the trails and parks to view the many species of birds, including raptors, warblers and shorebirds.

Oxford County is part of Canada’s South Coast Birding Trail with 321 species of birds recorded making it the premiere destination for bird watchers and nature lovers.  The County’s location on the northern edge of the Carolinian Zone accounts for a high diversity of northern and southern birds.

Our Canada's South Coast Birding Trail hubs are: 

• Pittock Conservation Area: an 850 hectare park directly north of Woodstock offers favulous camping, hiking, biking and paddling to go with seeing a variety of birds and ducks like the American Black Duck, Mallard and Common merganser. A 5 km trail goes through the intriquing plantations, forests meadows and shoreline.
• Wildwood Conservation Area: A 3500 acre park perfect for camping, hiking, biking and paddling including 30 km of trails amidst rare flora and fauna of the region. here you'll find shorebirds like the Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper and warblers.

Other Birding Locations in Oxford County:

• Lawson Nature Reserve has several attractive bird feeding stations  placed along many of the trails.  A variety of birds can be observed coming and going from these stations in the winter months.  While others can be seen scaling the sides of trees looking for insects and around the pond where a waterfowl nesting box is located on the small island at the end of Bucknell Wetlands Loop. 
• The Oxford Thames River Trail is situated on 285 acres of land and runs along the banks of the Thames River between Woodstock and Beachville. A recent project has seen the development of 6 separate wetlands and the construction of several Snake Hibernacula and Turtle nesting sites, as well as installation of several Wood Duck nesting boxes. In the near future the trail will  undergo more changes including the seeding of several acres in which Tall Grass Prairie and other native grasslands will grow and this will include a Monarch butterfly habitat.

Other Resources:

• Woodstock Field Naturalists' Oxford County Bird Checklist
• Birding GPS Coordinates
• View our Trail routes in Oxford County. 
• Search eBird for sightings in the region.