This afternoon's strong northwesterly winds lured me from Stratford to Kettle Point, where almost immediately upon arrival at ~2:50 PM I was greeted by a dark-morph juvenile Parasitic Jaeger very close to shore.
No luck with jaegers during the subsequent 90 minutes that I spent at the tip of the narrow rock spit. Common Terns and Bonaparte's Gulls were present in numbers. Other species observed on the spit included 4 American Pipits, 1 Black-bellied Plover, 2 Semipalmated Plovers, 8 Sanderlings, and single Palm and Blackpoll warblers, as well as the more expected species. Kettle Point is part of the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation. It can be reached from Highway 21 (~8 km north of Forest) by turning left onto Lakeshore Road and immediately right onto West Ipperwash Road, which runs north to Lake Huron. Just before the beach turn left onto Lake Road and travel ~1 km to the hairpin turn at Kettle Point. There is ample room here to park on the side of the road, and a good view of the lake. The rock spit juts north from here, and may require some wading depending on seiche effect and overall lake levels. jjalava at yahoo.com _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
