I had a report from Thursday that there were very few gulls on the Niagara River. This morning, however, Betsy and I arrived at the Adam Beck overlook in Ontario (the power plants) to find an astounding number of gulls, mostly Herrings but lots of Ring-billeds also, and a handful of Bonapartes. No Great Black-backed Gulls here but a first-year was on the roosting rocks. Between here and the roosting rocks about ½ km upriver, we had 8-9 ICELAND GULLS, 7 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS, one adult GLAUCOUS GULL, one adult, one third-winter, and a reported first year THAYERS GULL. The third year THAYERS was interesting, appearing to have a retarded plumage, with lots of black in the tail and brown in the wings, like a second-winter. However, it had mirrors on the outer primaries, which I clearly saw in my scope. The second-year FRANKLINS GULL was seen in the right-hand corner as you look down from the Adam Beck overlook. Mostly, however, it was seen at the roosting rocks. A TURKEY VULTURE was flying deep into the gorge here and later, either it or another landed on the NY shore to eat a fish.
At the boat ramp in lower Queenston, the Bonapartes Gulls were largely replaced by large gulls, including three ICELAND, one LESSER BLACK-BACKED, and one adult THAYERS GULL. An adult LITTLE GULL was reported from the Whirlpool Aero Car overlook, flying upriver. There were lots of BONAPARTES GULLS here and good numbers above Niagara Falls. However, we were unable to pick out a Little Gull ourselves. There were many large gulls above the falls including six or seven LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS from the control gates. There were also a number of GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLS here but many fewer than in past years, presumably due to Type E botulism. We headed home after that so hopefully others will report what they had a little further downriver closer to the falls. Upriver from the control gates there were about 35 TUNDRA SWANS and an adult BALD EAGLE that was perched on a snag stuck on the river bottom. Many diving ducks were over close to the NY side. As good as today was, I had the feeling it could have been a lot better. Lake-effect snow drastically reduced visibility much of the time. Good birding! Willie ------------------ Willie D'Anna Betsy Potter Wilson, NY dannapotterATroadrunner.com http://www.betsypottersart.com <http://www.betsypottersart.com/> _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
