Betsy and I birded the river Saturday from the Adam Beck overlook at the power plants to the Wellend River in Chippawa. The cold and wind in our faces early in the morning were too much at Adam Beck. We managed 3 ICELAND GULLS in a just a few minutes before moving upriver. Nothing of note in the gorge below Niagara Falls. Above the falls just downstream from the control gates, we had 4-5 ICELAND GULLS, 3 imm. GLAUCOUS GULLS, and one adult "NELSON'S GULL" (a Herring X Glaucous Gull hybrid). The latter was large, pale-mantled, and fairly clean-headed like a Glaucous but had obvious black in the wingtips like a Herring. In flight the black on the outer primaries was seen to be mainly restricted to the outer webs like a Thayer's Gull. The 3 Glaucous and "Nelson's" were all on the large flat rock area in mid-river. There was also a PURPLE SANDPIPER a little downriver from that area, about mid-river (i.e. not close).
We looked for the Ross's Goose that has been seen recently on the Wellend River around 10:00 and 2:30 but had no luck. A stop at the Lewiston Boat Ramp on our way home produced surprisingly few Bonaparte's Gulls and nothing different with them. The LONG-TAILED DUCKS are starting to build in number in this section of the river. Good birding! Willie ---------- Willie D'Anna Betsy Potter Wilson, NY dannapotterATroadrunner.com http://www.betsypottersart.com _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
