Ontbirders, Today I took a quick 30 minute lunch break and headed to Minet's Point Park on the south shore of Kempenfelt Bay, hoping for a Pacific Loon (they've been regular here in late October for the last couple of years). Well, I got my target and more.
I arrived at about 1:10pm and almost immediately found a small flock of 5-6 Little Gulls flying around just to the right of Minet's Point Park (northeast as you look out on the bay), as I watched 2 chasing one another, what a big surprise to see a juvenile light morph Parasitic Jaeger swoop in and start vigorously chasing one of the gulls. It did this for about 30 seconds before breaking off and heading further out towards the east, then I had a nice comparison of size with a Ring-billed Gull as it chased the Jaeger. As I scanned the bay through the hundreds of Common Loons, I soon found at least 1 (but more likely 2) Red-throated Loons in basic plumage, showing the silvery-grey hindneck, white throat and face and their typical head posture, keeping the bill above horizontal. Upon further searching I found 1 Pacific Loon well off in the distance (to the ENE of the park), the bird showed it's contrast between the hindneck and very dark back/wings, combined with the straight demarcation of white throat and brown-grey side & hindneck with rounded head and short bill (in comparison to nearby Commons). The bird also showed the bill being held at horizontal rather than above (like in Red-throated Loons). As mentioned, it was very distant but the light was really good today, I also saw a hint of the classic chinstrap. Note that almost all the loons were WAY out on the bay, so a scope is a must here - I had mine up at 60x at some points. There were also a few Horned Grebes and several Red-necked Grebes out on the bay. What a great decision to get out of the office today! Good birding, Frank Pinilla Richmond Hill, ON DIRECTIONS: Minet's Point Park - from Hwy 400 in Barrie, exit at Essa Road and head NE until Tiffin Street, turn right on Tiffin and then follow it as it turn right into (basically becomes) Lakeshore Drive. Turn left at Minet's Point Road (about 4km from highway), this then turns into White Oaks Road, you will see the entrance to the park on your left. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
