Yesterday Ian Cannell and I went down to Fort Erie to look for the Elegant Tern. We checked along the river on the Canadian side from the Peace Bridge to Bowen Road Park and later we went over to the USA side and spent some time checking through the thousands of Bonaparte’s Gulls at the north end of Squaw Island.
We did find 2 Common Terns roosting at the end of the pier at Squaw Island. We returned to the Canadian side and again checked the areas that we did earlier without luck When we got to Bowen Road Park we spotted 4 birders beside the Parkway and headed to them and we were shown the Lark Sparrow. The bird was alone in the bushes, etc. on the river bank at Bowen Road, good looks at this very nice bird. An adult Bald Eagle was in this area as well, when we got there and when we left as well as a Cooper’s Hawk and on the river here were Cormorants, Common Loons and Horned Grebes and thousands of Red-breasted Mergansers and Bonaparte’s Gulls. We now headed north along the river to Niagara-on-the Lake and along the way we saw thousands of Bonaparte’s Gulls with some massed together in a feeding frenzy, one frenzy of approx. 1500 birds at the mouth of Black Creek and another larger group at the Dockside Grill near College Road. These areas are between Fort Erie and Chippawa and along this stretch we saw the most Buffleheads that I have ever seen in 1 day with 1000+ birds. Along the river we also saw approx. 300 Tundra Swans and thousands of Red-breasted Mergansers. All 3 merganser species were present as well as Redhead and Canvasbacks. Later we stopped and spent a little time at the Adam Beck power dam and here we found 2 adult Iceland, 2 adult Glaucous and an adult Lesser black-backed Gull and a surprise find of an adult Black-legged Kittiwake. Overhead Ian spotted a Peregrine Falcon here. Between Queenston and the river mouth we found many Robins, 2 Eastern Bluebirds, Cedar Waxwings and a N. Mockingbird and near the mouth of the river in Niagara-on-the Lake were Black and White-winged Scoters and a Belted Kingfisher. Norm Murr Richmond Hill Ontario, Canada _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup
