Other than Gordon Bellerby's apt summary that the river was "stuffed with gulls", I have received few reports recently. The weather restricted visibility and, no doubt, fewer birders came to study gulls as a result. We were out Sunday but the snow started shortly after noon and after getting wet and not being able to see much through our scopes, we packed it in early. There were no reports of the dark mantled gull that was seen below the falls last weekend though I suspect it's still around.
As Gordon stated, the river was, indeed, stuffed with gulls! I thought last weekend was good but Sunday was really impressive. We had about a dozen Iceland, three Thayer's-types, a first or second winter Glaucous, and the same adult Nelson's Gull at Adam Beck. The Nelson's is recognizable to us by its ragged trailing edge on the secondaries. We had an adult and a juvenile Lesser BBG at Beck and the California Gull was present for part of the time, with lots of company on the rocks and exposed shoreline. A Black-legged Kittiwake was reported at the Whirlpool (Spanish Aero Car) and we had a first-winter Glaucous Gull there. At the control gates, a few thousand gulls were sitting on the breakwall and a few thousand more were on the mid-river island and feeding in large groups. We managed about 5 Lessers, 3 Icelands, a second-winter Glaucous, and an adult Thayer's-type with very pale eyes. The Purple Sandpiper was on the moss-covered rock near the barge - it seems to like this spot when the water goes over at least part of the breakwall at the control gates, as it was doing Sunday afternoon. As usual, it took Jean Iron's keen eyes to resolve the image of the sandpiper against the background of the large rock that is the same color as the bird. The male Wood Duck was still at Dufferin Islands Nature Area. One of our more interesting gulls was also one that did not allow much study. It was an adult at Adam Beck and was intermediate in mantle shade between Herring and Lesser BBG. It was Herring-sized but I am not able to be more precise than that. It showed no mirrors but appeared to be molting in the outermost primary or two. It was relatively lightly marked on the head but not unmarked, with more noticeable markings on the neck. We were unable to obtain any details of the bill, legs or feet. A Herring - Lesser hybrid? There were no reports from Lewiston-Queenston but John Black noted that there were plenty of gulls at the mouth of the river at Niagara-on-the-Lake. ***** There are Christmas Bird Counts on the river over the next couple of weeks. I am very interested in hearing about what is seen during this period so that we have a better chance to find it on count day. Please, either post your results to one of these list services or email me privately. Thanks! Good birding! Willie -------------- Willie D'Anna Betsy Potter Wilson, N.Y. [EMAIL PROTECTED]
