Kim Hartquist and Steve Daniel met Betsy and me for a successful day of birding the river. The number of gulls was incredible. At the Adam Beck overlook (power plants), we had:
15-20 Iceland Gulls 2-3 Glaucous Gulls 2-3 Thayer's Gulls 1 adult Herring X Glaucous Gull 1 adult hybrid gull - probably Herring X Great Black-backed (large size, white head, slightly paler than a Lesser Black-backed Gull) 1 juvenile BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE 1 adult Peregrine Falcon stooping on a flock of waxwings (no success) and also chasing a pigeon. 1 Turkey Vulture In lower Queenston, we had 3 LITTLE GULLS among thousands of Bonaparte's Gulls (from the boat ramp). Above Niagara Falls, there were 2-3 Glaucous Gulls 3-4 Iceland Gulls 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls 1 adult hybrid gull - probably Herring X Lesser Black-backed - on the breakwall below the control gates. 4 PURPLE SANDPIPERS - on their favorite rock upriver from the barge and about 100 yards from shore. 1 DUNLIN - upriver from the barge and out toward the middle where there is a tiny island with two scrawny trees. 1 female HARLEQUIN DUCK - near the tiny island with two scrawny trees (this is where there were four last winter). This bird can be very difficult to see. We also had a MERLIN perched at the top of a tree a little north of the Whirlpool Rapids bridge. Toward the end of the day, Betsy and I were driving by here again and saw what we assumed would be the same bird in the exact same spot. However, it turned out to be an AMERICAN KESTREL, perhaps the rarest of the three falcons along the river during winter! Good birding! Willie ------------------ Willie D'Anna Betsy Potter Wilson, NY dannapotterATroadrunner.com http://www.betsypottersart.com <http://www.betsypottersart.com/> 2013 Big Year: http://www.betsypottersart.com/willie-s-photos/2013-big-year _______________________________________________ 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/
