The Razorbill was seen off and on all day, almost to sunset, at the mouth of the Niagara River. Today, the place to view the bird from was off of Fort Mississauga in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, which is adjacent to the golf course and further out into the lake than Queen Royal Park. Reports said that it ranged from 100 to 300 yards off shore. With the choppy water and the distance, it would have been very difficult to pick this bird out if you were looking from Fort Niagara on the NY side. It was not visible from Queen Royal Park, which is directly across the river from Fort Niagara. The bird only has to put up with one more day of duck-hunting. Keep your fingers crossed!
Several birders studied a female Goldeneye found by Brett Ewald and his group above Niagara Falls. The bird was directly across from the Greenhouse (where there has been free parking most of this winter). This is a little below the stranded barge. She was not that far from shore and would feed in the rapids immediately below the Ontario Hydro Building (aka the Engineerium) and rest in the impoundment that's just a little further downriver. Jean Iron and I took lots of photos and hope to get some opinions on this bird. It had a consistently steep forehead and a fairly small bill and appeared to be an immature female. Other birds today: California, Iceland, and Thayer's gulls at Adam Beck. Iceland and Lesser Black-backed Gulls above the falls. Lots of Bonaparte's Gulls around but we didn't focus much on them and perhaps that's why we found nothing different with them. The number of large gulls was minimal, especially compared to how good it was last Sunday. Are the number of large gulls related to the dumps being opened and closed (they're closed on Sundays)? Good birding! Willie ---------------- Willie D'Anna Betsy Potter Wilson, NY [EMAIL PROTECTED]
