Eastern Ontario Birding

Eastern Ontario Birding Guided birding tours throughout eastern Ontario, lead by Jon Ruddy Welcome to Eastern Ontario Birding! I specialize in birding tours throughout eastern Ontario.

My name is Jon, and I am an Ottawa-based professional birding guide and Kowa Sporting Optics brand ambassador. The year 2022 marks my seventh year as a professional bird guide, and I continue to fall more in love with birds by the day. A little bit about me: I am a real Bird Nerd at heart and enjoy reading older texts in search of fascinating tidbits about bird behaviour, migration, breeding biolo

gy and general avian natural history. While in the field, I take every opportunity to share the information I have learned through study. Before the inception of Eastern Ontario Birding, I worked as a field ornithologist. I have conducted bird surveys in eastern Ontario, southern Ontario, James Bay, the Okanagan Valley and throughout Manitoba. Throughout that same timeframe, I led bird hikes for both the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club (OFNC), Macnamara Field-Naturalists’ Club (MFNC), and Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO). I found that I derive no greater pleasure than seeing birders light up as they observe interesting bird behaviour, a particular species for the first time, or admire beautiful plumage details. As soon as a birder becomes a client, they are included in the group emails I share with clients. Looking forward to birding with you in 2022! Jon Ruddy
Owner & Guide at Eastern Ontario Birding

Happy Monarch migration, everyone! Growing numbers of staging Monarchs are currently being seen along southeastern Ontar...
08/27/2026

Happy Monarch migration, everyone!

Growing numbers of staging Monarchs are currently being seen along southeastern Ontario’s coastline. Presqu’ile Provincial Park and Prince Edward County’s South Shore IBA are among the top concentration sites during fall passage.

Enjoy the season :)

A fun tour in Kingston today! At one point, we located a hummingbird clearwing moth. Darn - I missed the shot…or, did I?...
08/18/2026

A fun tour in Kingston today! At one point, we located a hummingbird clearwing moth. Darn - I missed the shot…or, did I?? I kinda like the dreamy aspect of the pic 😂

Peak fall birding tours begin next week! The fall birding season is an extraordinary and protracted birding season - ext...
08/14/2026

Peak fall birding tours begin next week! The fall birding season is an extraordinary and protracted birding season - extending right through to late November/early December.

Wave after wave of migrants are already both passing through, and staging, in eastern Ontario.

Professional field guiding, at the local scale, is all about helping you maximize your time in the field, day-by-day and tour-by-tour: distant birds, difficult to ID birds, counting birds, making sense of fleeting views, chip call ID, plumage/age class ID; these are the areas that I specialize in and provide guidance!

I look forward to our time in the field together this fall 🙂

Photo: Blue-headed Vireo, fall.

Good birding,
Jon Ruddy
Owner and Guide
Eastern Ontario Birding
eontbird.ca

What a nice view of Caspian Terns during today’s tour. Here, an adult is resting with a juvenile. Stormont, Dundas and G...
08/04/2026

What a nice view of Caspian Terns during today’s tour. Here, an adult is resting with a juvenile. Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry County.

07/29/2026

A serendipitous and serene moment along the Point Trail at the northern end of Murphys Point Provincial Park, during today’s tour.

We arrived at the north tip of the Point Trail and enjoyed a nice mixed species flock of songbirds. Before long, we heard a yelping call and noticed a very close raft of loons swimming adjacent to the point.

We crouched down and enjoyed a close pass…

Beautiful birds. Beautiful moment.

The start of Peak Fall Migration is just a few weeks away...Peak fall migration - a protracted, amazing birding period i...
07/27/2026

The start of Peak Fall Migration is just a few weeks away...

Peak fall migration - a protracted, amazing birding period in eastern Ontario - extending from August to November! Wave after wave of bird groups come and go during this time. A very productive period for rarity-hunting, too!

I have an action-packed tour schedule.

Looking forward to enjoying birds together this fall!

My tour schedule is viewable here: https://eontbird.ca/?page_id=7

Please email me for all tour inquiries: [email protected], thanks!

Photo: Juvenile Red Knot, Presqu'ile Provincial Park. Fall.

A beautiful juvenile Green Heron in Kingston, during yesterday’s tour. Branches in front of the body - “imperfections” -...
07/24/2026

A beautiful juvenile Green Heron in Kingston, during yesterday’s tour. Branches in front of the body - “imperfections” - well, that’s just how it goes in nature. Perfectly beautiful imperfections - in both subjects and moments - abound in the natural world.

Hello, eastern Ontario birders!Hope everyone is having a great summer so far 🙂It’s been a nice break, enjoying time with...
07/21/2026

Hello, eastern Ontario birders!

Hope everyone is having a great summer so far 🙂

It’s been a nice break, enjoying time with the fam, and it’s just about time to get back in the saddle! Looking forward to enjoying birds together this summer and fall!

I have an exciting schedule of events planned. Check out my tour schedule for further details.

See you in the field!

Address

Ottawa, ON

Opening Hours

Tuesday 7am - 6pm
Wednesday 7am - 6pm
Thursday 7am - 6pm
Friday 7am - 6pm
Saturday 7am - 6pm

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