It really felt strange to be birding under such balmy conditions while looking at so many gulls. Betsy and I met Jean Iron, Ron Pittaway, and Kevin McLaughlin at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario where we had distant views of the RAZORBILL. The bird was not in front of the walls of the old fort, as it usually is, but further out and to the left (we were standing almost directly across from the old fort).
The WHITE PELICAN at Jack Custers bird sanctuary, first reported to Ontbirds this Friday, was present today, on what seems to be a much too small pond for a bird this size. I was hoping to see the wing pattern to rule out the possibility of an exotic pelican species but did not. Still, it appears to be a juvenile and is likely an American. This bird is on Concession Road 7, about ½ mile south of Niagara Stone Road, west of Virgil, in the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. BONAPARTES GULLS continue in good numbers on the river while HERRING GULLS continue to build but are still well below peak numbers. Diversity was excellent with 12 species of gulls found, although that includes singles of GLAUCOUS GULL (found by Brad Carlson and Gary Chapin, the one we missed), THAYERS GULL, and FRANKLINS GULLS at the power plants (viewed from the Adam Beck overlook), a single BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE at the Whirlpool Aero Car (found by Brad and Gary), and an adult CALIFORNIA GULL at Adam Beck (found very late in the day by Betsy). The latter bird was an exciting end to a fun day of gull-watching, especially for a certain someone who is at 315 species in Ontario this year (congratulations Barb!). Other gulls were the expected Ring-billed and Great Black-backed, about 11 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS (above the falls and at Adam Beck), four LITTLE GULLS (Niagara-on-the-Lake at the Razorbill spot, two downriver from the Queenston boat ramp, and a first-winter bird at the Whirlpool), and about six ICELAND GULLS at the power plants. >From what I heard, nobody saw any Black Vultures today. Good birding! Willie ------------------ Willie D'Anna Betsy Potter Wilson, NY dannapotterATroadrunner.com http://www.betsypottersart.com <http://www.betsypottersart.com/> -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
