After being alerted to their arrival by Andrew, Peter Hogenbirk and I heard and saw five Fish Crows (both flying and sitting in the trees) at Fort Erie. Pls note that the location was actually about 1/2 km north of the junction of Bowen Rd and the Niagara River Parkway and just north of a little parkette. The crows come in across a broad front, but seemed to stage near the parkette and then flew a bit further north before crossing the river. One was seen crossing the river south of the parkette but still north of Bowen. At least on this day, you could not easily have heard or seen them from Bowen. That said, the entire area should be scanned for birds going to roost since they come in from various westerly and northwesterly directions.
Peter and I saw the spectacular adult male King Eider (but no Snowy Owl there today) at Port Weller and 10 species of gulls on the Niagara River plus one more in Hamilton (a Glaucous on Eastport Drive) - we did not see the Brant and White-fronted Geese previously reported. The 10 species of Niagara gulls included: Adam Beck: 2 Thayer's (one adult, one first winter), 11 Iceland (Kumlien's) - in various stages of adult and immature plumage - a great opportunity to study many age classes from one vantage point Queenston: 3 adult Little Gulls Flood gates above the falls: 2 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls Fort Erie: one first winter Kittiwake, one first winter Little Gull and a Black-headed Gull (as reported by Andrew). Cackling Goose - one was on the river about 2 kms. downriver (north) from Squaw Island north of Fort Erie. Directions: Fort Erie: from the mouth of the Niagara river travel north on the Niagara River Parkway past the railway bridge that crosses the river. Watch for Bowen on your left hand side. From here you can scan the American side and see the swarms of gulls by the marina (this is actually Squaw Island which doesn't look like an island, but rather a concrete pier). Patience should yield the Black-headed, Kittiwake and Little Gulls. Travel about 0.5 kms further north and watch for a sandy beach on the river side of the road and the parkette on the landward side. This is where the crows came in starting about 3:30 p.m. We left about 4:15. Port Weller - form previous posts: From Hamilton take the QEW towards Niagara. Take exit 47 and turn left onto Ontario St. Follow Ontario St. until it veers right and becomes Lakeshore Rd. Travel on Lakeshore Rd. until you cross the bridge over the Welland Canal and turn left on Seaway Haulage Rd. Follow Seaway Haulage Rd. to its terminus. The King Eider was in the Canal to your left. Geoff Carpentier www.avocetnatureservices.com _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
