Hello Ontbirders Today, Monday Jan.12/03 Stan Bajurny and I motored on down to Niagara Falls to see what we could see. The morning was a washout with a steady snowfall that barely let us see the river let alone birds. The Niagara Parks people were very busy digging out from an overnight snowfall of about 10" (25cm) so parking was at a premium. We finally gave up with only 4 species of gulls seen and a good look at an immature Merlin just north of Adam Beck dam.
We went on down to Niagara-On-The-Lake to the Shakespeare St. area. There we got lucky with 2 Red-bellied Woodpeckers, 3 N. Mockingbirds, Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks and 21 Purple Finches as well as several other common species. Tired here also of the very wet snow we left to head back toward Toronto. We proceeded up Regional Rd 55 (between Niagara-on-the-Lake and Airport Rd) where we saw 3 male Ring-necked Pheasants beside the road and then on to Tim Horton's at the QEW. After a coffee and sit down we decided to head back to Niagara as it had miracuasly stopped snowing We arrived back at the Adam Beck dam where we found 4 Iceland Gulls and the California Gull and another N. Mockingbird. As it was now around 3:30pm we headed down to the flypast area near the river mouth At the River mouth among the 700 or so Bonaparte's Gulls flying to the lake we spotted 3 adult Little Gulls and not 1 adult Black-headed Gull but 2 of them about 20 minutes apart also heading to the lake. Here also was a Double-crested Cormorant, Belted Kingfisher and swimming past with a branch in it's mouth was a Beaver and across the river some of Willy's friends (the Border Patrol). We again headed home up Regional Rd 55 and beside the Niagara Regional Airport at Airport Rd we had a Short-eared Owl fly past in front of us. Norm Murr Richmond Hill, ON [EMAIL PROTECTED] I am too tired and lazy to look up the MapArt page numbers so here are the directions instead. NM ADAM BECK POWER PLANT >From St Catherines drive east on the QEW to the junction (Y split) with Hwy 405. Drive down Hwy 405 to the Niagara Parkway (at the river), turn right (south) and drive over the power dam to the small parking area on your left, park here and you can observe the gulls from the viewing area. The dam across the river in New York State is the Robert Moses Power Plant. SHAKESPEARE AVENUE IN NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE >From Hamilton, exit the QEW Highway at Exit #38. Drive across the overpass heading (north) and drive the very short distance to York Road (Wendy's and Tim Horton's are on your left). Turn left on York and drive the short distance to Irvine Road. Turn right (north) here and drive the length of Irvine to Hwy 55 (Niagara Stone Road). Turn right here and drive through Virgil to Niagara-On-The Lake. At Mary Street turn left and drive to Shakespeare Avenue. Turn right onto Shakespeare Avenue and drive almost to the end of the road at Lake Ontario. Find a place to park (The residents here are birder friendly) but be sure not to block the streets or interfere with traffic. Remember that all the property here is private property and our good birding ethics will make it a friendly place to bird for others. Coming from downtown Niagara-On-The-Lake. Drive to the lake and of Queen Street, passing the golf coarse on your right. Turn left at the end of Queen onto Niagara Blvd and follow the winding street to Shakespeare Avenue. NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE FLYPAST. >From Niagara Falls drive north on the Niagara Parkway thru Queenston and just south of Niagara-On-The Lake turn right at John Street E and drive in front of Historic Fort George for about 1 km where you will see a small stone building on the right with a paved parking lot. This is "Navy Hall". Park here and walk the 20 yards or so to a small dock at the rivers edge and your there. Norm Murr "Norm Murr" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Visit http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm for information on leaving and joining the list. As well as general information and content guidelines.
