On 4 July 2010, Paul Martin reported an unidentified albatross (but suspected as Yellow-nosed) flying over the beach in Kingston, Ontario before promptly disappearing. Observers elsewhere on Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence River were urged to be on the lookout but no subsequent sightings have been reported.........until now.
John Shemilt just alerted me to a noted from Terry Sprague posted on ONTBIRDS listserve stating that a YELLOW-NOSED ALBATROSS was found by an unnamed person at Brown's Bay, Wolfe Island, Ontario. Evidently the albatross was in a very weakened state and is currently being cared for at the Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre in nearby Napanee. Brown's Bay is on the north side of Wolfe Island, and as the albatross flies, this is about 5 miles from the New York State Line (just east of Cape Vincent, Jefferson Co.). It is possible the albatross was attempting to the return to the ocean via the St. Lawrence River but was perhaps daunted by the narrow and lengthy waterway. There are very few examples of albatrosses being seen on freshwater and I imagine they cannot find much in the way of food. I recall there has been at least one storm-associated Laysan Albatross on the Salton Sea in California (calling the Salton Sea 'fresh water' seems an overstatement) and the fate of any seabird that ends up there is probably not a good one. -- Angus Wilson New York City & The Springs, NY, USA http://birdingtotheend.blogspot.com/ -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
