When I saw Jay’s alert about the Black-legged Kittiwake at Stewart Park yesterday morning, I immediately began bundling up for a field trip, undecided whether to head to Stewart Park or to try scoping eastward over the mouth of Cayuga Inlet & the White Lighthouse Jetty from north of Treman Marina, which by bike would be closer and quicker for me.
During my delay, Jay reported that the Kittiwake, with lots of Bonaparte’s Gulls, had flown south toward downtown Ithaca. Gulls over downtown are a regular feature of the sky from my house, often backlit and too distant for me to easily ID to species. But I figured a boldly patterned young Kittiwake might work, so I spent a couple minutes scanning from upstairs windows. The only gull I saw was a juvenile Herring Gull. Maybe Jay’s flock didn’t actually continue downtown, I thought. So I checked a couple of favored gull resting places on Cayuga Inlet north of my place. Just north of the Boatyard Grill restaurant, between the Children’s Garden and the Cornell & IC rowing crew boathouses, where the straight artificial Flood Control Channel is rejoined by the older meandering Cayuga Inlet, there is a shallow place, a shoal which is often exposed when the lake level is lowered in winter. Ice also forms and remains there readily. Our three usual gull species like to rest in that spot, and it is preferred by the smaller Ring-billed Gulls. Farther north, where Cascadilla Creek enters between the Farmers’ Market and Newman Golf Course, is another gull resting area on water, ice, or mud bars, favored more by the larger gulls, although Ring-billed Gulls do like the new docks at the north side of the creek mouth when the water is not frozen. As I walked north along the Cayuga Waterfront Trail next to NYS-89, I found that the ice just north of Inlet Island was populated by resting Canada Geese, Mallards, and even a handful of Rock Pigeons (who line the electric wires high over the water in less extreme weather). Next to a dense crowd of resting Larus gulls, mainly Ring-billed, were 5 Bonaparte’s Gulls resting off to the side, while 1 more rested within the edge of the larger flock. I scanned the gulls several times from several angles, but did not see anything that looked different in size nor boldly enough marked to be an immature Kittiwake (nor for that matter an adult or immature Little Gull). So I continued north to check the resting gulls opposite Cascadilla Creek. Here were almost no Ring-billed, but 11 Bonaparte’s bathing. The Bonaparte’s Gulls took to the air, joined by several more who were southbound, and headed toward the first flock I had found. They flew lower than the usual gulls fly, perhaps because of the strong wind they were fighting, perhaps because they were not surveying the area for food. Anyway, I realized that small gulls flying at treetop level would more easily slip past my home observatory. I returned through the bitter wind to concentrate on the gulls nearer to Inlet Island. Indeed the Bonaparte’s Gulls were gathering there in the water alongside where the first few rested. They had to swim to stay in place, as there was a pretty good current keeping that water liquid. Birds came and went and were hard to follow or keep track of, but between glancing at birds in the air I kept scanning those that paused. The maximum number of Bonaparte’s I counted at once on the water and increasingly on the ice was 46 around noon. All were adults, nor did I see any immature small gulls in the air. The only size variation I saw was minimal, ascribed to angle and how fluffed they were. No size or shape called out “Black-headed” or “Little” or “Kittiwake”. Awhile after that maximum count I was seeing less than 30, and my gloved fingertips guiding the scope were going numb, so figured the Kittiwake was long gone, and I retreated home, satisfied with a very cool experience. I returned about 4pm to check the area again, but the resting gull flock near the Boatyard Grill had zero Bonaparte’s or similar gulls. Today while writing this I saw several groups of gulls fly south in a rather meandering way against stiff SW wind, so I think they were commuting, not migrating. Among them were 2 markedly smaller and slenderer gulls which I believe were Bonaparte’s even though I was not able to see their wing pattern against brightly lit clouds. Maybe those gulls are resting or feeding at the south end of the Flood Control Channel near the fish ladder. New today is that the Flood Control Channel is finally iced over. Throughout yesterday’s single digit weather, some combination of the water’s flow, temperature, and turbulence around the concrete pier below the NYS-89 bridge maintained some open water in front of my house, even though numerous thin ice floes swept past. Now the ice floes have backed up and filled in this patch, too, in a pleasing marbled pattern. Another yard first today, in addition to the Bonaparte’s Gulls, was a southbound male Northern Harrier, powering straight at about treetop level, evidently getting the hell out of Dodge, or at least past this unsuitable urban habitat. Enjoy the holiday. Stay warm. Keep an eye out for whatever comes by on - or in spite of - the wind. By the way, my guess is that the Bonaparte’s Gulls came from Lake Erie. Your thoughts are welcome. - - Dave Nutter PS Tip for writers: place your phone next to your keyboard on a windowsill so you can be alerted to birds passing overhead by the reflections on the phone. -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
