Betsy and I teamed up with Sean Sime and Joe DiCostanzo of NYC for a great day of gulling on the river. Highlights of our 11 species of gulls were the following: CALIFORNIA GULL - adult on rocks at the power plants (seen from Adam Beck overlook). CALIFORNIA GULL - adult on breakwall below the control gates (more red on bill and perhaps darker and smaller than bird at Adam Beck. ADULT BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE - one at the Whirlpool (Spanish Aero Car) - the first adult of this species I have ever seen on the Niagara River. Thanks Stu! ADULT BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE - one in the gorge below Niagara Falls, feeding in and near the mist of the Canadian (Horseshoe) Falls. My second ever on the river! Thanks Sean and Joe! This was definitely a different bird than at the Whirlpool with a larger area of black on the ear coverts that extended up onto the crown. LITTLE GULL - one adult and one second-winter at Lewiston/Queenston, one first-winter below the falls, one adult above the falls. THAYER'S GULL - one or two adults at the power plants, one or two adults above the falls. ICELAND GULL - two adults at power plants, one first-winter below the falls. GLAUCOUS GULL - one adult above the falls (close to the diversion wall that's just a little above the falls). In addition, Jim Pawlicki and Bill Watson had the Northern Parula first reported by Stu Mackenzie. After going down the escarpment on the Niagara Parkway, make the first right turn at the bottom (York St) and proceed to the end where it is blocked off. The warbler was about 100 yards or less past the blockade, with Chickadees. Note that this is part-way up the escarpment, not close to water level. Also, Jim is pretty sure he had a pale-rumped swallow on the far side (NY side) of the river from the pulloff below the control gates on the Ontario side. There were a couple dozen Rough-winged Swallows as well. The fly-past at Niagara-on-the-Lake was a disappointment with only two or three thousand Bonaparte's Gulls and one Little Gull, a fraction of the total number of Bonaparte's Gulls seen from Lewiston/Queenston to the control gates above the falls. Good birding! Willie ---------- Willie D'Anna Betsy Potter Wilson, NY [EMAIL PROTECTED] From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sat Nov 18 19:52:00 2006 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from sunfep1.cogeco.net (smtp.cogeco.net [216.221.81.25]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 36BAE63D83 for <[email protected]>; Sat, 18 Nov 2006 19:51:47 -0500 (EST) Received: from DESKTOP (d57-61-206.home.cgocable.net [24.57.61.206]) by sunfep1.cogeco.net (Postfix) with SMTP id 222C32246 for <[email protected]>; Sat, 18 Nov 2006 19:51:46 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "Girlings" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 19:51:22 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2869 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2962 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.1 Subject: [Ontbirds]Northern Mockingbird - Leamington X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list Reply-To: Girlings <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2006 00:52:00 -0000
While at Heinz D&R Store - 82 Wilkinson Drive - Leamington, ON observed = a Northern Mockingbird in the trees west off the parking lot. Happy Birding, Bryan Girling
