Gulls and rarities at Niagara

I woke this morning to the sound of a robin singing outside my window as the sun rose and knew that I had picked a good day to spend birding. The Niagara River was my destination, first of all because there had been several interesting species that I "needed" for my big year being sporadically seen, and second of all because I love looking at gulls (actually!).

I pulled into Niagara-on-the-lake around 10:00 AM and immediately began scanning the waterbirds. Among the highlights were a number of White-winged Scoters and singles of Horned and Red-necked Grebe, both new for the year.

This was a good start and I was exited for what the day could have in store. Queenston was next, and after scanning through all the Bonaparte's Gulls (watching a couple of Little Gulls mixed in with them), I parked myself on the lookout to view Queenston, ON and Lewiston, NY. The day was warm and sunny and I was hoping I could find a Black Vulture. Even if I did, it would need to fly across the river for me to be able to count it towards my year list (those are the rules!). After 1/2 an hour, no vultures were in sight and I was getting a little restless. Noisy Tufted Titmice, a Red-bellied Woodpecker, and a Carolina Wren kept me company, however.

Finally, I noticed a vulture soaring low over the trees and it turned out to be a Turkey Vulture. Within the next 10 minutes, 4 more joined it. At one point 2 of the vultures briefly flew over to the Ontario side before heading back to New York. Then, after about 45 minutes of waiting, a Black Vulture flew through my scope view, about 1 kilometer away on the New York side. I watched it for a while as it circled around, refusing to cross the river so I could add it to the list. After about 15 minutes of this, it headed straight for the river! I grabbed my camera and took a series of photos as it floated over the river into Ontario airspace. Success! It slowly drifted out of sight towards the Adam Beck lookout.

Black Vulture - Queenston, ON

 Lev Frid soon pulled up, about 5 minutes after the vulture left. Not the greatest luck for him, but he's on his way to North Carolina for a few pelagic trips so it's hard to have sympathy!! ;)

At the Adam Beck lookout I scanned the gulls, coming up with a few interesting things. 2 Thayer's Gulls (1 juv., 1 2nd winter), a Glaucous Gull (2nd winter) and about a dozen Iceland Gulls of various ages were the main attractions until I spotted a slightly smaller gull sitting on the rocks. It was an adult, mostly alternate-plumaged California Gull, presumably the same bird that was seen here last weekend. I managed to grab some very poor shots through my scope.

This was my 5th year bird of the day for me and I added one more above Niagara Falls. After a considerable amount of scanning I was able to spot several dark lumps on a rock halfway across the river. The 3 lumps woke up, revealing themselves to be female Harlequin Ducks. Two of them went for a swim while the third went back to sleep.

Tundra Swans - Niagara River

After birding the rest of the Niagara River I made it over to Fort Erie in mid-afternoon. It didn't take long before I heard several Fish Crows calling! I was even able to get a photo of one, though not of the greatest quality. At least I can now say that I've seen a Fish Crow this year as my original sighting was heard only.

Fish Crow - Fort Erie, ON

A brief scan across from Rich's Marina in Buffalo only yielded a few Bonaparte's Gulls, so the Black-legged Kittiwake that had been accompanying them will have to wait.

Later in the afternoon, right before sunset, I tried Bayfront Park in Hamilton just to see what was around and to get out and stretch my legs. There was a good variety of waterfowl including several Canvasbacks.

Canvasback - Bayfront Park, Hamilton

Mourning Doves are actually quite beautiful when you see them up close.

Mourning Dove - Bayfront Park, Hamilton

Lots of geese around, though no rare geese mixed in with all the Canadas.

Canada Goose - Bayfront Park, Hamilton

I was surprised to see this 1st winter male King Eider hanging out with a bunch of Mallards. If I recall a King Eider had been reported here recently - this must be him!

King Eider - Bayfront Park, Hamilton

It was an extremely successful day at the river. I added another rarity for the tally with the Black Vulture (code 4), several locally uncommon birds in the California Gull (code 3) and Harlequin Ducks (code 3), as well as Tufted Titmouse (code 2), Red-necked Grebe (code 1) and Horned Grebe (code 1). I still need that darn kittiwake but that will have to wait til I get back from Scotland.



ADDENDUM: Looking back at my photos of the California Gull, it does not appear to be one after all. At this point in time four years later I can't recall if I just happened to photograph the wrong bird or if I mis-identified it, so to be safe I have removed California Gull from my year list.

Crazy bird for # 100!

Today started out like many other do...waking up much too early, meeting up with other birders, and driving a ways to a premier birding destination. The place was the Niagara River, and the people were Andy Keaveney and his girlfriend Sarah.

We started out at Fort Erie to see if we could find the Black-headed Gull and Black-legged Kittiwakes which have been reported on and off from the American side. Just like a few days ago, we struck out on these species again. As we were scoping the gulls an American Pipit called overhead and landed on a nearby beach. We had great scope views of this bird as it foraged on the beach.

The weather was cold but sunny and with very little wind as we continued downriver. Unfortunately we didn't see much and eventually ended back at Fort Erie in mid-afternoon. As Andy and I parked ourselves in Fort Erie across from Rich's marina in Buffalo we began scoping the gulls again. At one point when they flew up, Andy picked up the Black-headed Gull in flight and quickly got me on it. However we both lost it and didn't see it over the next 45 minutes. It stayed on the American side of the river so technically we couldn't count it for our year list (yet).

He headed downriver to try for the gull there while I stayed in place. The gulls flew several more times, but I had no luck picking out anything rare with them. Eventually something scared all the gulls and I was pleased to see the Black-headed Gull mixed in with thousands of Bonaparte's Gulls. They made a big loop, coming over to the Ontario side for a minute or so, before ending up back at the harbour. I called Andy but unfortunately we couldn't locate it later.

As the sun was getting low in the sky we noticed crows starting to build up in the trees nearby. Andy mentioned we try to call in a Fish Crow, considering that Brett had one on the river on January 1 and they winter regularly only an hour from the border in Rochester. As soon as I played the call on my phone, a Fish Crow responded!! We couldn't believe our luck and listened to the crow call several times over the next few minutes. Andy got Sarah to come out of the car and listen to the bird as well. I tried to make a video of the bird calling, knowing full well that my phone probably wouldn't pick up the call. Unbelievably, it did! The crow calls about 4-5 times in the video (there are some American Crows calling as well). Once I figure out how to get it off my phone, I will post it.

The Fish Crow was year bird #100 and a code 4 rarity. Looking at previous years, the earliest date that I had arrived at 100 species was March 12. More importantly, I now have 3 rarities on my list - Mountain Bluebird, Black-headed Gull, and Fish Crow (all code-4 birds).

What's next? I plan to take it relatively easy this week and focus on schoolwork for the first time this semester. After that, a plan is in the works to travel up north via Sault Ste. Marie, Marathon, Thunder Bay, and all the way around HWY 11 to North Bay. It should be one hell of a trip! Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (coming to a feeder), Sharp-tailed Grouse and A. Three-toed Woodpecker are all species I have never seen before. We are also hoping to get Spotted Towhee, Harris's Sparrow, the rest of the finches, Northern Hawk Owl, and Boreal Owl.

Niagara River on Thursday

In the near future (next 1-2 weeks) I will be traveling up north, maybe making it as far as Thunder Bay, to search for northern species and a couple of rarities. If anyone lives anywhere between North Bay and Thunder Bay either along the HWY 11 route, or along the route near the great lakes (Sault Ste. Marie route) and would be willing to provide me with a place to stay for a night, I would be more than grateful! Sure beats sleeping in my car.

Anyways, back to birding. On Thursday, I headed to the Niagara River with Maggie Macpherson, a friend and former Guelphite who is now doing a Ph.D at Tulane University in New Orleans. She was visiting Guelph for a few days so we decided to check out the gulls along the Niagara River.

Unfortunately it rained pretty steadily for most of the morning. We spent a bit of time checking out the flocks of Bonaparte's Gulls near Fort Erie to hopefully pick out a Little Gull (code 2), Black-legged Kittiwake (3), or Black-headed Gull (4) but the rain made it very difficult to see well and we did not find any of those rare gulls.

The whole day wasn't a waste though. We did see all the expected gulls on the river including a distant Little Gull at the Queenston docks. I was happy to pick out an adult Thayer's Gull in flight at the Adam Beck power plants as well.  Lesser Black-backed, Little, Iceland, and Thayer's Gulls were all year birds, as was American Wigeon.

By early afternoon fog had rolled in along the river so we drove to Port Weller to try to find the previously reported King Eider and Snowy Owl. They were both present and Maggie was happy to get her lifer King Eider. The only year bird I got here was Northern Flicker.

Tomorrow I plan on going back to the river and searching for some of those rarities again.
By the way, for some reason the links to my big year list haven't been updating. I have fixed that, but if anyone sees any problems just let me know.

Mountain Bluebird, King Eider, and more

Lots of photos today, so I'll try to keep the text brief.

This morning I woke up and headed straight to where the Mountain Bluebird has been reported. It only took a few minutes after arriving to see it as well as a male Eastern Bluebird. My first rarity of the year (and my 7th bird for the year).

Mountain Bluebird - Puslinch

Mountain and Eastern Bluebirds - Puslinch

After that success I booked it down to Hamilton, hoping that I could work some magic and turn up the Black-throated Gray Warbler that hadn't been reported in several days. No luck there (actually, no warblers of any kind!) but I did see a few things.

I'm trying to photograph most of the species I see this year so I grabbed some shots of even the common stuff.

even Mallard's are fair game!

Bufflehead - Bayfront Park

Greater Scaup - Bayfront Park

Northern Mockingbird - Bayfront Park

Herring Gull  - Bayfront Park

When doing a Big Year, a House Sparrow counts just as much as a Laysan Albatross! They are each worth "1".

HOSP - Bayfront Park

Red-breasted Merganser - Bayfront Park

I really cleaned up on invasive species at Bayfront, getting a grand slam! Mute Swan, House Sparrow, European Starling, and Rock Pigeon.

immature Mute Swan - Bayfront Park

Belted Kingfisher - Bayfront Park

cormie - Bayfront Park

These guys were a nice surprise. I'd never seen one before in the winter.

Black-crowned Night-herons - Bayfront Park

An adult Bald Eagle flew over, possibly patrolling the waterfront for ducks.

Bald Eagle - Bayfront Park

After all of that shutterbuggery, I headed on over to Port Weller in search of a reported male King Eider. I've never seen an adult male before, plus it's a good bird to get "out of the way" when doing a big year in Ontario. After setting up the scope, literally the first bird I looked at was the one I was looking for!

male King Eider - Port Weller

The Snowy Owl was also present, sitting waaaay out at the end of the west pier. A boat spooked it so I grabbed a crappy flight shot. Very cool birds!

Snowy Owl - Port Weller

On my way home, I stopped in Stoney Creek to try to turn up a Short-eared Owl at dusk. No luck, but I did see the long-staying Bobolink, a Northern Shrike, and a bunch of Harriers. A Great Horned Owl hooted in the distance, and I drove home with 59 species in the bag.

Tomorrow - Kingsville for the Great Gray Owl and who knows what else!

What a day on the Niagara River

Yesterday I spent the entire day birding the Niagara River with Brett Fried and Reuven Martin. The rarest birds in Ontario right now include Black Vulture, Razorbill, Slaty-backed Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, California Gull, etc. THey all happen to be at the Niagara River now too!

We arrived at the Control Gates bright and early but failed to see the adult Slaty-backed Gull that was found by Kevin yesterday. I did spot an interesting gull mid-river and got Reuven and Brett on it. It showed all the characteristics of an adult California Gull. Also seen here were our first Bonaparte's, Ring-billed, Herring, Lesser Black-backed (2 1st winter, 1 adult, 1 3rd winter), and Great Black-backed Gulls. There was also an interesting bird I observed briefly that had the mantle color of a California Gull but with pink legs and a light eye (hybrid perhaps?). 3 female Harlequin Ducks (as opposed to the 2 seen previous days) were hanging out on the breakwall as well.

Photo of Harlequin ducks to be posted here

Moving down the river, we stopped at the whirlpool to look for the Kittiwake. No luck there, so we continued on to Adam Beck. Here, we had great looks at an adult Thayer's-type gull, as well as our first Kumlien's Gulls of the day. We were up to 8 species of gulls for the day. After hearing reports that the Kittiwake was back at the Whirlpool, we hurried over and had great looks as it circled with the bonies. I couldn't believe the size difference between the two species!

Photo of the the kittiwake will be posted here

Sometime later that morning we headed back to the Upper Falls, and immediately got on a darker mantled gull that had all the field marks of the adult Slaty-backed Gull. A group of birders nearby, including some very good gullwatchers, had the bird much closer and confirmed its identity of the Slaty-backed Gull. Two 1st cycle Glaucous gulls were also present.

I was surprised to spot the Purple Sandpiper on the traditional rocks near the barge. It had jammed itself into a tiny crevice and was nearly impossible to see!

With 11 gull species under our belt, we headed back downriver to search for Franklin's and Little. Franklin's was no problem, as it was sitting in "the usual spot" at the roosting rocks, just upriver at Adam Beck. We only needed Little for a 13-gull day!

We skipped Queenston and headed to Niagara-on-the-Lake to search the Bonaparte's Gulls that would be flying past. Eventually they started streaming by, and the OFO group also stopped by. We managed to get 3 adult Little Gulls go past - 13 gulls for the day! As far as I am aware the adult California gull was only seen by a few other parties throughout the day.
By the way, no luck with the Razorbill or Black Vultures, though both were seen on the day.

Another great day at the river!

Rarities on the river

Razorbill - check!
American White Pelican - check!
Frankin's Gull - check! (x3)
California Gull - check!
Little Gull - check!

Needless to say, it was a great day birding Niagara with the University of Guelph wildlife club (our drinking club with a wildlife problem).

Our convoy of 27 enthusiastic gullers left Guelph shortly after 7 in the morning, and eventually we all arrived at Jack Custer's Bird Sanctuary near Niagara-on-the-Lake. The juvenile American White Pelican was sitting exactly where it was supposed to, hanging out in a pond that seemed much too small. What a cool bird to start the trip! After an extended photo session, we rounded up the troops and continued on.

American White Pelican - Niagara-on-the-Lake

American White Pelican - Niagara-on-the-Lake

Niagara-on-the-Lake was our next stop, and unfortunately it was pretty slow. Despite spending over an hour here, we couldn't wrangle up any Razorbills, jaegers, or other super-neat birds. A flock of 30+ Snow Buntings was nice to see, and of course there was the usual assortment of loons, grebes, and ducks. We continued on to Queenston.

Queenston was a decent spot with lots of gulls around to study. Many people in our group got looks at their lifer Little Gull, excellently spotted by Reuven Martin. A group of 5 Turkey Vultures began to kettle, but we couldn't locate any Black Vultures with them.

Fort Niagara

We arrived at the Adam Beck power plant somewhere after 11:00 and began studying the gulls. Meanwhile, Brett Fried, Erika Hentsch, David Bell, and Emily Rooks went to the "roosting rocks" just upriver to see if the Franklin's or California Gull were present. The rest of us managed to find a crisp looking juvenile Thayer's Gull, a fugly 2nd winter Lesser Black-backed Gull, and an adult Iceland Gull. The other four found the Franklin's, so off we went!

Fortunately for us it was still present when we arrived, but it took several of us (not me of course.....haha) an embarassingly long time to pick it out on the rocks. Unfortunately there was no California Gull at the time, so we continued to Chippewa to eat lunch.

The Upper Falls (viewed from several vantage points) was next on the agenda. While we didn't see anything super rare here, it was fun to study some of the ducks, including Hooded Merganser and Gadwall. Lots of gulls, but nothing out of the ordinary (save for a couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls).

Great Black-backed Gull - Upper Falls

Mallard - Upper Falls

A Black-legged Kittiwake was being seen at the whirlpool (thanks for the heads-up, Barb!) but we were running a little late so we decided to skip the kittiwake to make one more run at the Razorbill at Niagara-on-the-Lake. A brief stop at Adam Beck was worthwhile as "Frank" was flying around with Herring and Ring-billed Gulls. It was nice to see some familiar faces here too, such as Kevin McLaughlin, Jean Iron, and Blake Mann. Brett texted me that they had the Razorbill at Niagara-on-the-Lake, but by the time my car came rolling in it was out of sight. A nice "consolation prize" was this beautiful intermediate-morph, juvenile Pomarine Jaeger! It chased Bonaparte's Gulls on several occasions, even getting one to spit out a fish, which it caught just before the fish hit the water. The photos definitely don't do it justice, but in the scope this bird was a thing of beauty. While scanning for the Razorbill, Brett and I caught several glimpses of it as it dove, but it was much too far out that no one else got on it. One of the flocks of Bonies heading to the river contained the Franklin's Gull, which circled several times, giving good views.

juvenile Pomarine Jaeger - Niagara-on-the-Lake

While most of the group left, Ken Burrell texted me that the California Gull was being seen at Adam Beck, so the remaining 5 of us booked it over there, arriving well after sunset, but with just enough light to see the gulls! Several birders were still there, and Jean Iron and Willie D'Anna got us on the Cali Gull.  What a fitting end to a great day on the river!

Razorbill in Niagara

This morning while in class, I got a text from Brett Fried telling me to go get the Razorbill. I had been planning to go to Kingston on Friday, so I figured he meant that the Ottawa bird was back (Ottawa is only 1.5 hours from Kingston!). I checked my email and saw that Joshua Cain Stiller had found a Razorbill at the mouth of the Niagara River from the New York side on November 8. That was good enough for me, so Dave Bell and I cut our classes short and booked it on down to Niagara.

It only took about 15 minutes of scanning before I located the bird in flight near the border. It ended up flying into Ontario and landed on the water for a few minutes (so I can technically count it for both New York and Ontario). The bird dove a few times, then was gone. We ended up viewing it for about 10 minutes. A link to my Ontbirds post: http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/ONTB.html#1320971640

This was a new Ontario bird for me - #331 and my 3rd new Ontario bird in the past month (the previous two being Purple Gallinule and Red Phalarope).

 By the time Dave had got the cameras, the bird was no longer in flight and would have been nothing but a distant speck in our viewfinders. A few minutes later it was gone, so no photos were obtained.

We did however, see many Red-throated Loons, such as this juvie:

juv. Red-throated Loon - Niagara-on-the-lake

This tiny black speck is actually a dark morph Pomarine Jaeger, a bird seen harassing gulls. It was still present when we left. It might be some dust on my sensor, but I'm pretty sure this is the jaeger!

Pomarine Jaeger - Niagara-on-the-Lake

We also spent some time near Queenston searching for the reported Franklin's Gull. No luck there, of course! This has been my nemesis bird for a few years, and I still haven't seen one anywhere. We did have this juvenile Common Loon swam right up to us, almost as if it was begging for us to throw it a fish or something. Also seen from here was a nice adult Little Gull. Dave had a Thayer's Gull in flight, but I didn't get on it.

juv Common Loon - Queenston docks

Our final stop was 50 Point CA, right at sunset. We scrambled over some rocks, unsuccessfully searching for Purple Sandpipers (it would have been a lifer for Dave).

Dave at 50 Point CA

I was kind of proud of myself as we left, since I saw what I thought was an owl, traveling low over a brushy field well after the sun had set. I still don't know how I saw it! Anyways, Dave and I got out, and I found it acting very much like a Short-eared Owl, sitting near the top of a shrubby tree. The ear tufts gave it away as a Great Horned Owl, though!

Gallinule photos

I wasn't expecting the bird to be so far away, so the photos are very heavily cropped. Nonetheless, they are identifiable (brownish gallinule with white undertail coverts, greenish/blueish wings, yellow legs). This bird is obviously a juvenile which will gradually molt into 1st alternate plumage (vibrant greens,blues, yellows, and purples) throughout the winter.

juvenile Purple Gallinule - Port Weller east

juvenile Purple Gallinule - Port Weller east

juvenile Purple Gallinule - Port Weller east

The lighthouse at Port Weller

Gallinule!

It had been a while since I had chased a rare bird. Come to think of it, the last time I drove more than 10 minutes to see a rare bird was the Mountain Bluebird in Stony Creek from March. This was mainly because nothing much was being reported across the province. That changed this weekend, as Dan Salisbury and John Black made a great find with a Purple Gallinule at the pond on the Port Weller pier. It was a juvenile, and if accepted would be the 15th record for Ontario.

I had some free time this morning so I booked it down to Niagara to take a look at this bird. After a brief wait it started foraging out in the open on the far side of the pond. It was a juvenile bird, but a hint of blue was starting to show on the wings. What really struck me was how obvious the white undertail coverts were! After enjoying the bird for a little over 1/2 an hour I moseyed on back to my car.
Other birds seen on the pier included Hermit Thrush, Orange-crowned, and Blackpoll warblers. The Gallinule was my 329th Ontario bird (the first new one since Glossy Ibis in May). Not a bad way to end this unseasonably warm Thanksgiving weekend!

I took a few poor photos of the bird which I will post later. Until then, check out Ken's much better photos of the bird on his blog here: http://kenburrell.blogspot.com/2011/10/purple-haze.html

What's next on the agenda?
This week isn't looking too busy school wise, so I might do a day trip somewhere. I am also hoping on venturing to a quite unexpected location this weekend to do a Nelson's Sparrow hunt - stay tuned! The looks I had of the one in Hamilton just weren't quite satisfying enough.