High Bluff Island (Lake Ontario)

Map
High Bluff Island, Gull Island and the Presqu'ile tombolo

High Bluff Island is a small island off the north shore of Lake Ontario in Northumberland County, Ontario, a few hundred metres west of Presqu'ile tombolo.[1][2] It is part of Presqu'ile Provincial Park.[3] Gull Island lies between High Bluff Island and Owens Point, part of the Presqu'ile Tombolo.

The island is an important nesting site for migrating birds, so access to the public is prohibited from March 10th to September 10th.[4]

In 2002 a 27-page management strategy recommended further measures to protect the unique environment of the island.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Geology and Formation of Presqu'ile". Friends of Presqu'ile Park. Archived from the original on 2019-05-06. Retrieved 2019-05-06. In the last few thousand years Lake Iroquois drained somewhat to form our present-day Lake Ontario. As it did so, five islands appeared off-shore of the mainland. These islands are comprised of limestone, part of that package of rocks formed so long ago in the Ordovician. This limestone has now been designated as part of the Lindsay Formation and is described as thin, crystalline to nodular limestone with very thin shaley seams (Peterson, 1969). This means that the rocks break up quite easily and form the low rubble cliffs found today on the south shore of Presqu'ile. This also means that the rock is not very suitable for building stone as demonstrated by the fate of the Presqu'ile Lighthouse (see the History section here). This rock is full of fossils, primarily crinoids, brachiopods, trilobites, and cephalopods, in decreasing order of abundance. Most of these fossils are fragments of the animals' shells, as they probably tumbled down a slope on the sea bed before coming to their final resting place to begin the process of fossilization.
  2. ^ "Walking Trails of Presqu'ile Provincial Park" (PDF). Friends of Presqu'ile Park. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2014-07-13. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
  3. ^ "Presqu'ile Provincial Park". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 2013-05-12.
  4. ^ "Presqu'ile Provincial Park Management Plan: Amendment". Ontario Parks. Archived from the original on 2019-05-06. Retrieved 2019-05-06. The foot of Presqu'ile Peninsula was once a limestone island, as Gull and High Bluff islands still are.
  5. ^ "Amendment of the Management Strategy for Double-crested Cormorants at Presqu'ile Provincial Park" (PDF). Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. 2002. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-05-06. Retrieved 2019-05-06.

43°58′31″N 77°44′48″W / 43.9752°N 77.7468°W / 43.9752; -77.7468