January started with a trip down to the Niagara River on the 2nd with Josh and Mourad. There was a long staying Black-headed Gull that I have been trying to track down and hoping to get. I have been down to the river 2-3 times in November and December trying to pick this bird out at Whirlpool but have had no luck. Last year I went down to Fort Erie a few times as well trying for one with no luck. I didn't think I would ever get this bird the way it has been going. Another plus to going was that New York had a Slaty-backed Gull on the 1st on Goad Island that wasn't visible from Ontario. We were hopeful to try locate it from the Canadian side.
We left around 7 with a few stops on the way first stopping at Adam Beck. We picked off the usual suspects that are usually found here including Iceland Gull, Glaucous Gull, Thayers, and Lesser-black Backed Gull. The Bonaparte's Gulls started to stream past so we thought we better make it over to Whirlpool to try pick the Black-headed out amongst them. We made it to Whirlpool by 9:00 am with no other birders in sight. We started scanning and within a few minutes I picked the Black-headed out! Lifer!! I was pretty excited to get on it, and once I was on it, it was easy to follow, but next to impossible to get the others on it. I watched it for a few minutes before losing it again. No one else got on it. A few more birders showed up and still no one else was getting on the bird, although we did pick out a nice adult Little Gull. I got on it again and finally Mourad picked it up, then after a few more minutes Josh got on it. We tried to get the other birders on it with one other getting on it and then we left feeling really satisfied. A quick pitstop and a celebratory coffee and we were off to the Control Gates to see about that Slaty-backed Gull.
We arrived at the Control Gates a little after 10, if my memory is correct. We started scanning Goat Island from across the River and noted a few Lesser-black Backed Gulls. Mourad then called out that he had one that looked a little different. After much study we were sure that this was The Gull but wanted it to come closer just in case we were being fooled by the distance. (Hybrids can appear similar to this bird, so careful study is needed, especially of the wing pattern) We texted a few others in the area and had them show up within 30 minutes. By this time, the bird was still sitting in the same spot with a few Lesser-black Backed's close by for nice comparisons. Within 10 minutes of the other birders showing up the bird flew up and starting flying away. Mourad had just gone to the car and we shouted to get over. The bird was coming toward us and flying up the river. After getting my scope on the bird I watched it fly upriver out of sight. The string of pearls were seen in the wing to clinch the ID. Lifer #2 for the day!! I never expected to get this bird!
A few more stops along the river produced another Little Gull
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| Little Gull - Niagara River above the Falls |
We also nabbed a few Black Vultures down near Queenston Lewiston and decided to head back to Hamilton. We ended up with 11 Gull Species for the day, the most I have ever had in one day! (the world record is 14 - so we didn't do too bad!)
We decided we would try to get the long staying Harlequin Duck (as we missed the ones on the River) and King Eider at the Burlington Lift Bridge. We arrived by 3:30 and all the ducks were moving out onto the lake with our two targets no where in sight. I guess you can't get them all!
This was the second day in a row I came too late in the day for these birds. The lighting is nice at that time of day as the sun is setting, allowing for some nice photos of the ducks still in the canal.
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| Red-breasted Mergansers - Burlington Ship Canal |
Overall a great start to a new year. I was not able to get any identifiable photos of the two life birds, but at least I have seen them! Now I get to look forward to try and photograph them sometime in the future.
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| Lots of Gulls on the Niagara River |
