Black Oak Heritage Park

Black Oak Heritage Park supports one of the finest stands of black oak in Southwestern Ontario and is home to such nesting birds as Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Eastern Bluebird and Cooper's Hawk. Many of the native plants at Black Oak Heritage Park are extremely rare elsewhere in Canada. Black Oak Park is part of the Ojibway Prairie Complex, which also includes Ojibway Park, Tallgrass Prairie Heritage Park, Spring Garden Natural Area and Ojibway Prairie Provinical Nature Reserve. Black Oak Heritage Park (BOHP) - an ecological gem in the City of Windsor - is a natural area of land, and public park area that is part of the Ojibway Prairie Complex in the City of Windsor. The area also includes Ojibway Park, Tallgrass Prairie Heritage Park, Spring Garden Natural Area and Ojibway Prairie Provincial Nature Reserve. The most striking aspect of Ojibway Prairie Complex is the tremendous variety of its vegetation and animal life. Wetlands, forest, savanna and prairie provide habitat for a great number of rare plants, insects, reptiles, birds and mammals – including those listed above. The prairie landscape, characterized by a lack of trees (less than 2.5 trees / hectare) includes grasses and flowers that grow very tall and lush; hence the name – tallgrass prairie . Essex County, in extreme southern Ontario, has less than 6% natural forest cover. It is estimated that less tha