We did not see the Mew Gull today but for the second weekend in a row, Jean Iron found a great bird - this one an adult SLATY-BACKED GULL among the rocks mid-river just above Niagara Falls. When first discovered about mid-afternoon, it was sleeping but she noticed a broad tertial crescent on a gull with head streaking that was about the darkness of a Lesser Black-backed Gull and the size of a Herring Gull. She got the rest of us on it (Kevin McLaughlin, Ron Pittaway, Scott Whittle, Betsy Potter, and me) and we watched it for a long time. We had to find a spot to get a look through the other gulls in front in order to see the legs. However, we still could only see a small bit of them and they did not look particularly bright pink. Fortunately, we kept watching because as it turned out, we were deceived - the legs and feet were bright purple-pink! We only saw this after the bird finally woke up and started to preen and scratch. The moderately heavy head and neck streaking included a darker concentration around the eyes. The bill was yellow with a reddish gonydial spot and it was not noticeably different in size and shape than that of the Herring Gulls (keep in mind that this bird was distant so precise comparisons were very difficult). Everything looked good on this bird but we needed to see the wingtip pattern in order to confirm the identification. All at once, all of the couple thousand gulls took to the air and none of us were able to confirm the wingtip pattern. However, Scott Whittle was digiscoping and incredibly, managed to get photos that show the string of pearls on the wingtips! It is a good thing Scott, who is doing a big NY year, does not need this bird for NY because we saw it only in Ontario. Although we relocated the Slaty-backed Gull in the same general area, it either left shortly or was obliterated from view by the other gulls, so we had to give it up.
We also saw the second-basic CALIFORNIA GULL in the morning at the power plants from the Adam Beck overlook on the Ontario side. We could not find it there in the afternoon when there were very few large gulls there (lots of Bonaprate's but nothing different with them). Actually, there were relatively few large gulls there in the morning as well. At Adam Beck we also had an adult and a first-basic GLAUCOUS GULL, one or two adult THAYER'S GULLS, one third-basic LESSER BLACK-BECKED GULL, and a handful of ICELAND GULLS. Above the falls were about five adult LESSER BBGs, one first-basic GLAUCOUS GULL, and at least one first-basic ICELAND GULL. There were very big numbers of large gulls above Niagara Falls (between the control gates and the falls). Two PURPLE SANDPIPERS were above the falls, in a spot they have been seen many times in recent years, the large rocks just below a waterfall slightly upriver from the Ontario Hydro building (the Engineerium). 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
