Hawk Cliff Woods is a stunning 230 acre property fronting on Lake Erie near Port Stanley. The woodland here is one of the most significant deep interior forests in Elgin County. In the maple-beech forest you will find Carolinian specialties, including the Tulip-tree and Shagbark Hickory as well as the Endangered Butternut and American Chestnut. Rare birds such as Eastern Wood-Pewee, Acadian Flycatcher, Louisiana Waterthrush, and Wood Thrush thrive in the deep woods.

Birders, nature lovers, and banders have been visiting this area for generations. As early as 1950 naturalists from London, Port Stanley, and St. Thomas organized public hawk-viewing weekends at Hawk Cliff, beginning a tradition of public education and awareness that continues to this day. Hawk Cliff has become internationally known as a “Hawkwatch” site and is world renowned as an observation point for over 20 birds of prey, a place for hawk banding and as a site to see migrating songbirds and Monarch butterflies.

Photo by John St. Pierre