Burlington Ship Canal: Hamilton BYOB Series #2 Traditional Cache
Bon Echo: Time to wave goodbye on this one.
Burlington Ship Canal: Hamilton BYOB Series #2
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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This is the second installment in the Hamilton BYOB series – "Bring your own Binoculars" (and a field guide too). It will take you to some of the best birdwatching sites in the Hamilton Study Area (defined below). Don't just “P&G” these ones – take the time to enjoy the birds while your there.
Congratulations to DFX and T4E on a well-deserved FTF!
Tall Ships in the Burlington Ship Canal June 28 1013
About the hide
You are looking for a "small" camo'd plastic tube (small to me, micro to others), the camo is "homemade" and "all natural". It holds only the logsheet, so please BYOP. It is a short distance off the main trail into the trees/shrubs, about 8 feet in from the gravel. be careful moving around it there, they're called "buckthorn" for a reason. Watch your eyes. The difficulty rating is for daytime, it's probably a point higher at night.
About the Burlington Ship Canal
The cache is located a short distance from the Burlington Ship Canal. Built in the 1820's for sailing vessels, the Burlington Ship Canal connects Hamilton Harbour to the Western end of Lake Ontario. The canal is 89 meters long and 9.6 meters deep.
Best time to visit the Burlington Ship Canal
Winter! No, I’m not nuts (okay maybe a little). Sure, the peir is a great place to take in the fireworks on July 1st, and it’s always nice to stroll out on the pier when the winds are calm. But if you want to see birds, you’ll want to go there some time between late fall and early spring. During the winter the canal is usually filled with thousands of ducks, mostly northern migrants who choose to spend the winter in the canal. I’m not sure if it’s because the canal typically remains ice free through the winter, or if it’s due to an abundance of food (mostly zebra mussels and small fish).
Birds to see at the Burlington Ship Canal
If you BYOB at the right time of year you might just see the following species (not an exhaustive list, just some of the focal species for this location)
Ducks: Mallard, American Black Duck, Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup, Surf Scoter, White-Winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Merganser.
Other birds of interest: Red-throated Loons, Horned Grebes, King Eider, Mute Swan, Trumpeter Swan, and various gull species have been reported from this location. Peregrine Falcons nest on the lift bridge in summer. Bald Eagles may be around the area in winter. Snowy owls have been seen in winter. Watch for Northern Mockingbirds near the cache site.
Additional details
Lots of free parking nearby. The trail gets pretty busy most of the year, watch for cyclists and rollerbladders zipping along when accessing the trail. The cache is a safe distance from the canal for those with small kids who might be concerned.
Important notes Like geocaching, birdwatching can bring you to some ecologically- sensitive locations. Please be respectful. Be assured that I will not place hides where doing so would impact the survival or breeding success of any species.
About the Hamilton Study Area
The Hamilton Study Area is a circle centered at Dundurn Castle, Hamilton with a radius of 40.2km (25 miles). 386 bird species have been recorded in the HSA.
Comments welcome! I’d be interested in recommendation for sites, or corrections to species lists. Contact me through my profile page
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