At 11:45 today (4 July) an albatross (not identified to species) flew low over the parking lot between the smoke stack and the helicopter pad at Kingston General Hospital near the end of Barrie Street at Lake Ontario. The bird was at the lake shore, but flew over land the entire time observed. The bird was as low as 10m above the ground and very close to the walking trail along the water edge (but on the hospital side). The bird passed back and forth 3 times, sometimes with Ring-billed Gulls in pursuit. The bird was last seen circling upward above the smoke stack drifting eastward.
The bird was predominantly white with fairly even black along the front edge of the underside of the wing, extending the full length of the wing. The upperside of the wing and back were uniform black. The bill appeared somewhat dusky, with a line at the top edge of the bill. The actual top of the bill may have been a different colour - I couldn't see for sure. The head may have been somewhat dusky, particularly around the eye. The bird flapped when low with fixed, stiff wings. When soaring, the wings were arced, not bent. The bird appeared about 2.5-3 x the size (wingspan) of the Ring-billeds, although they were usually diving at it making comparisons difficult. Context: I was walking my son in a wagon when the bird flew by - I had no binoculars or camera. I saw the bird for about 5 minutes, at times extremely close (15m) when it was at its lowest point, and left the bird as it was soaring to phone my wife to return with a camera. We could not relocate the bird later on. Directions: From 401, take Division Street south to Johnson St. Turn left, then right on Barrie Street. Take Barrie Street south to the Lake. The bird was seen just to the west at the visible smoke stack opposite the hospital. -- **************************************************** Paul R. Martin, PhD Baillie Family Chair in Conservation Biology and Assistant Professor Department of Biology Queen's University Kingston, ON K7L 3N6 Canada email: p...@queensu.ca phone: +001 613.533.6598 fax: +001 613.533.6617 http://post.queensu.ca/~pm45/ **************************************************** _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list ONTBIRDS@hwcn.org For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
