Ian Cannell and I did a half day of birding between Niagara-on-the-Lake and Chippawa along the Niagara River and it was a pretty good day although it took us 3+ hours in snail traffic to get from Bronte to Richmond Hill, almost as much time as we spent birding Niagara.
We started at 15732 Niagara River Parkway in NOL where the Eurasian Tree Sparrow has been seen daily lately and we spotted it almost immediately and then we drove back to the mouth of the river where we spotted 1 Common and 3 Red-throated Loons, at least 12 Horned Grebes and a very close up fly past of a Pomarine Jaeger. From here we headed up river towards Queenston ticking off 2 Tufted Titmice, 2 Red-bellied Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, 100+ A. Robins and a N. Mockingbird. At the overlook on the Queenston Heights we looked across the river to Lewiston where we came up with 6 Black and 9 Turkey Vultures and at Adam Beck we found Iceland, Glaucous and Lesser black-backed Gulls and the Leucistic Bonaparte’s Gull, plus 2 D-C Cormorants and then we drove up to the area above the falls where we found another Lesser black-backed Gull and as I was panning the concrete break wall just below the control dams a small black bird actually landed on the concrete right in my scope view and my first though was Grackle but it quickly morphed into a Fish Crow and for comparison an American Crow flew past over it. On our way up to the control dam area we stopped to check the usual rocks for Purple Sandpiper but none were seen on the ice covered rocks but we did spy one a little further out on the river on a large flat rock. The river also had lots of the usual waterfowl but the gull numbers seemed quite low to us especially above the falls. We didn’t try the Sand Docks, Whirlpool, below the falls, Dufferin Island, Peter Street or on up the river to Fort Erie or we could probably have come up with several more species (Tundra Swan, Canvasback, etc.) as well as adding to our totals of the birds we did find. A great place for anyone trying for a decent “Winter list”. Norm Murr Richmond Hill Ontario, Canada You can't see birds if you don't go out but sit and wait for others to find them. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
