My apologies for this late report.
Between 4:00 and 4:45 PM on Tuesday, Nov. 9, after a meeting in Niagara Falls I had a bit of time to scope the rocks & rapids above the Falls for Purple Sandpiper (no luck), gulls (fairly low numbers and diversity) and waterfowl (big numbers and good diversity). After some scanning, I observed a dark-mantled gull in "winter adult" plumage sitting on the cement breakwall some 100m offshore in the Niagara River just above the rapids above the Falls. The bird was clearly larger than the many Herring Gulls around it, and smaller than the two Great Black-backed Gulls also in its immediate vicinity. Its mantle was intermediate in colour between these two species. The bird changed positions several times and it was obvious that the dark grey mantle colour was not an artifact of light-angle. In fact, viewing conditions were near ideal, in that the sun was setting behind my back and there was a thin overcast (as a result of Falls mist), meaning that there were no shadows or glare. I wish I could give as superb a description of the bird as Kirk Zufelt did recently of the apparent Vega Gull in the Soo, or that I could have taken photos for a permanent record. In any case, the dark-mantled bird I saw had: 1. dull flesh-coloured to pinkish legs, which were clearly longer than the HERGs that it was with (it stood taller than the HERGs); 2. fine brown streaking on the head (I did not note a "dark line through the eye" noted by Sibley for Slaty-backed Gull, but was not specifically looking for this feature); 3. the iris appeared fairly pale, and the lores pinkish; 4. bill was heavier than the adjacent HERGs, but not as massive as the GBBGs; 4. the gonys appeared dusky grey-black perhaps with a hint of reddish (suggesting to me transition from second-summer to third winter??? since a fully mature bird should not have so much dusky, correct??); 5. the head shape was similar to the GBBG, quite flat across the crown with a very slight peak at the nape; 6. wingtips extended slightly beyond the tail; 7. apical white spots of primaries appeared slightly smaller than adjacent HERGs (not a helpful observation!), but I did not otherwise note the amount of black on primaries; 8. tertial crescents appeared as a bold broad white band (broader than those of adjacent GBBGs) above the primaries with the bird at rest (it did not fly during the time I observed it); 9. the bird also had bold white scapular crescents. My own "inconclusion" was that this was either a hybrid HERG X GBBG or a Slaty-backed Gull. I make this post in hopes that others will rediscover and properly identify the bird. Please feel free to e-mail me privately with your thoughts. Also this week, on Monday, Nov. 8 at 4:15 PM, just south of Wheatley in a field on the west side of Erie Street South (north of the bend towards Wheatley Harbour) I observed a Cattle Egret -- the bird flew up from the field and southwestward. Also, during the past two weeks I have observed small flocks of both species of crossbills (mostly fly-overs) in areas of high coniferous cover (including plantations) at various locations in southern Bruce and Grey counties. Jarmo Jalava, Paisley, Ontario Directions to where I observed the dark-mantled gull: Take Niagara Parkway south towards Fort Erie from the Falls. There is a pull-off on the river-side of the Parkway (that is heavily posted with No Stopping signs) between Burning Spring Hill and Upper Rapids Road. One can park in the parking lots off Upper Rapids Road immediately across from the pull-off on the west side of the Parkway. There is a bench at the pull-off that makes for pleasant scoping of the river, but do wear mitts or gloves. _______________________________________________ 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/
