Thanks to Willie D'Anna's call in the afternoon, myself, Dave Gordon and eventually Bill Watson collectively got to see the 2 adult breeding pluamged Black-headed Gulls and 3 Little Gulls at the Harry's Harbor Place docks along the Niagara River in Buffalo. Not long after the first Black-headed Gull flew downriver, a second bird showed up on the docks very near where the first individual was loafing/resting. As Willie previously mentioned, this bird has darker bare parts than the first, most notable on the legs, which were reddish-black from the tibia down to the feet. Likewise the bill was very blackish with just hints of dark red coloration. For directions to Harry's Harbor Place, please see Willie's directions pasted below.
Back at the Huntley Plant in Tonawanda, one of the Common Ravens was observed flying in over River Rd. from the NE carrying something in its bill (food/nesting material?), after which it eventually landed on top of the north end of the power plant. At this time it was getting intensely harassed by a pair of crows and eventually flew up out of sight into the rafters between the smoke stack and building itself. A few photos from today are here: www.flickr.com/photos/jmpawli10 Jim Pawlicki DIRECTIONS TO THE BLACK-HEADED GULLS LOCATION: Harry’s Harbour Place Grille, which is accessed from Niagara Street (NY 266), just south of Ontario St. – look for the small “Harry’s” sign with an arrow. The access road will take you under I-190 to a marina with many docks, where the small gulls are sitting. The Black-headeds seemed to prefer to sit on the docks that were closer to Harry’s restaurant. Other places to look include the foot of Austin Street and the foot of Hertel Ave, both just south of Harry’s. Between Ontario St and the access road to Harry’s is another road that will take you just north of Harry’s. where you can drive a short distance along the river. There are many Bonaparte’s Gulls in all of these areas, although they will likely be moving out in the next few days. -- 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/ --
