Wheatley Provincial Park is very close to Point Pelee National Park and that is really why we were in the area.
The Wrong Side Of 40 Begins
Looking back, this is the start of it all. We had been to Point Pelee and did not quite meet the 100 bird requirement for the 2022 Festival of Birds. We stayed at a hotel and it was so expensive and the pull of the birds was so strong that there was no way we were conceding defeat. Then we found an air mattress for the back seat of the car, drove to another city to get it (hyper-focused). After that we learned you can sleep in a Wal-Mart parking lot when you have a camper and it is not frowned upon. Just ask permission from the proprietor and apparently Wal-Mart is accommodating. Thankfully, I wasn’t quite ready to sleep in a parking lot and thought about camping.
We found that Wheatley is a stones throw from Pelee and for less than 50 bucks we could spend the night. A far cry from the 175 to 230 a night they were asking for hotels. Although we didn’t know it, the wrong side of 40 began.
Camping at Wheatley Provincial Park
We stayed here in the car using the back seat air mattress we bought and spent almost no time in the actual park, because of this I am sure we will be visiting this park again. It looks great and seems like it would really be a nice place to stay during the spring and fall bird migrations. Recognizing that this is something we were going to continue to do we explored and found a good pair of binoculars for each of us to use. We landed on the Vortex Diamond Back.
This was our first night setting up the car to sleep in. We bought netted screens for the rear windows to allow airflow. Then we brought a screen for the moon roof and bought a USB fan for circulation. The air mattress fits across the backseat and has a blow up support for the footwell. Grabbed a few pool noodles to level the mattress as the seats in the back of the corolla slope downwards. We brought pillows, blankets, we went to local establishments for meals and the grocery store to pick up snacks for our walks.
How to see these beautiful birds
This was also where we started to use the Vortex Diamondback HD binoculars, such a change from the Tasco 10×50 we bought from Marketplace. I am confident that the money we spent on these binoculars will provide us with so many spectacular views and years of use. They do not disappoint, I have an astigmatism with each eye and I can see pretty clear, far away, and without my glasses. When the bird flies away, I need my glasses but I cannot rely on a manufacturer to make that easier, unfortunately.
Wheatley Provincial Park made this possible
The trip was a success, we identified more than 100 birds, we had not realized that the Festival of Birds included Wheatley and Hillman Marsh. With that knowledge and our shorebird list in hand we went to the Visitor Centre at the tip, gave our lists over and got our pins! For 2022 the bird representing the festival is the Green Heron which did not make our list.
Wheatley Maps
Wheatley Provincial Park is a protected area in the municipality of Chatham–Kent in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Erie near the community of Wheatley and occupies an area of 241 hectares. Visitors to nearby Point Pelee National Park often camp at the park.