Big Day 2025
On May 15th, Georgian Bay Land Trust staff Aaron, Stef, and Sarah embarked on our fourth-annual Big Day fundraiser: an attempt to see as many bird species as possible within 24 hours. Thank you so much to everyone who supported us along the way! We had a fantastic time birding, and expect to have raised over $7,000 for bird conservation and research. We saw 121 species over the course of the day, with the highlight being a rare Upland Sandpiper on Southeast Wooded Pine Island. A recap of the day is below, and those who are interested can see our complete eBird checklists here.
Big Day 2025
The day began at 1 am, with roadside stops at a variety of wetlands in the Bracebridge and Gravenhurst area. Temperatures were mild, and we heard 10 different bird species overnight, including Virginia Rail, Black-billed Cuckoo, Eastern Whip-poor-will, and 10 Barred Owls!
Dawn brought swarms of mosquitos and a big increase in bird song. By 6:30am, we had 62 species on our list, and a car full of squashed bugs. We spent the rest of the morning driving around to fields and forests, waving off blackflies, and adding more birds to our list including Bobolink, Trumpeter Swan, and Osprey.
We noticed that the morning was going a little slower than past years in terms of adding new species to the list. This could partially be due to subtle differences in migration timing year-to-year – for example, this year most ducks have already passed through and gone farther north.
After lunch, we made our final Muskoka stop at the Bracebridge Sewage Lagoons, a hotspot for ducks and shorebirds. That’s where we hit the 100 species mark, with a flock of Least Sandpipers flying overhead.
Then it was time to head to Georgian Bay! We watched for raptors out the car windows on the highway, and managed to pick up a Broad-winged Hawk. Our first stops on the bay were in Port Severn and Honey Harbour, where we found a Bald Eagle and Red-headed Woodpecker.
The weather was beautiful as we finally got on the water and out to the islands. The sounds of gulls filled the air, and our final checklists included cormorants, mergansers, and loons. Then the highlight of the day happened: one of the shorebirds on Southeast Wooded Pine Island didn’t look quite the same as the others. Upon closer inspection, we discovered it was an Upland Sandpiper – not recorded in the District of Muskoka since 2003! These birds are known to breed a little farther south on the Carden Alvar, and we were thrilled to discover it here on a Georgian Bay Land Trust property.
Feeling happy, we made our way home towards our Go Home Bay field station, watching and listening for any other evening birds. After dinner, and with a gentle rain starting to fall, we called it a day with 121 species on the list. Thank you so much to everyone who cheered us on along the way – your support kept us going over a long day!
