Trip Leader: Fred ,
Participants: Fred, John, Margaret, Doug, Werner, Carole, Norma, Stewart, Arlene, Tony and Carol, Beryl, BJ and Doug , Gord and Norah
Our trip to bird Hamilton to Niagara was well attended with 16 people participating and many attended for the first time - 10 of us were rookies. On this trip, some people had numerous lifers with Franklin's Gull, Black-legged Kitiwake and Purple Sandpiper being on the top of the list. We saw 49 species on day one (Hamilton and Niagara-on-the-Lake) and picked up 13 new species on Day 2 on the gull hike led by Jean Irons and Ron Tozer. The total for the day was 62 species of birds. We missed only one of the regular 10 gulls we hope to see each year and that was a California Gull. However, as a replacement to the CAGU, we saw a Franklin's Gull, a first for the BBC, and a Black-legged Kittiwake. Translated that we means we missed out on one gull but had 2 unexpected new ones; in retail that is called a 2 for one sale. An unexpected bird picked up by one of the cars on the way down was a Ring-necked Pheasant. Getting 2 sightings of Peregrines both at the Burlington Canal and the barge area was much appreciated. Surprise sightings were Harlequin Duck and a Pomeranian Jaeger that gave great looks at Adam Beck Generating Station.
An interesting time was watching a discussion going on whether the gull across on the American side was a Lesser Black-backed Gull (Jean Iron) or a Slaty-backed Gull (Ron Tozer). First it was the former and then the latter and finally it went back to the Lesser Black-backed Gull after Kevin Mclauglin waded in and made the decision. In defense of our leaders, this bird was really far away and the views given were absolutely minimal.
The temperatures were high for the season and rain happened only on the way back home. The high for Saturday was + 6 with variable cloud and on Sunday it was + 14 with mostly sunny skies. That was the best and warmest weather we had ever had on this annual trip.
Our group supper was at the Old Winery and the food and the company were excellent.
Go to http://www.ofo.ca/reportsandarticles/gulls.php to get some excellent information on Niagara Gulls. It describes why this area is the foremost gull watching area in the world and also gives tips on how to identify gulls. A picture on that site shows a skinnier Fred and also Werner in a past photo with Jean Irons. That might be Beryl in there as well. The photo taken was in one of our earlier years of going on that hike, maybe about 6 to 7 years ago.
Places we birded:
1 - En route
Day One - Hamilton to Niagara-on-the-Lake
2- Les Jardins Canal
3- Hydro Ponds
4- Valley Inn Road
5 - Cemetery (near Valley Inn)
6 - La Salle Marina
7- Canada Inland Waterway
8- Burlington Canal
9 - Gray's Road
10- NOL Overlook
Day Two - Gull Hike Niagara Falls
11- Sir Adam Beck Generating Station
12- Whirl Pool Rapids
13- Queenston Heights
14- Niagara River (above and beyond the falls)
Birds seen and their locations
• Red-throated Loon - 8
• Common Loon -6, 10
• Pied-billed Grebe -2
• Horned Grebe -10
• Red-necked Grebe - 10
• Double-crested Cormorant -4
• Great Blue Heron - 4
• Mute Swan - 4, 6
• Trumpeter Swan -6
• Tundra Swan -14
• Canada Goose
• Mallard
• American Black Duck
• Gadwall -6,14
• Northern Shoveler - 4, 14
• Canvasback -6
• Redhead -6
• Greater Scaup - 6
. Harlequin Duck -14
• Long-tailed Duck -6.7.9.10,14
• Surf Scoter - 6
• Black Scoter - 9
• White-winged Scoter - 6.9.10
• Common Goldeneye
• Bufflehead
• Hooded Merganser- 4.6.14
• Common Merganser -6.
• Red-breasted Merganser
• Ruddy Duck - 6
• Turkey Vulture 13,11
. Black Vulture -13
• Red-tailed Hawk -1,
• Rough-legged Hawk -1
• American Kestrel -1, 7
• Peregrine Falcon - 8. 14
• Ring-necked Pheasant -1
• American Coot -6
• Purple Sandpiper -14 on rock above the barge
• Little Gull - 10
• Bonaparte's Gull - 4,10, 11, 12, 14
• Ring-billed Gull
• Herring Gull
• Thayer's Gull -11
• Iceland Gull -11
• Glaucous Gull -14
• Lesser Black-backed Gull -14
• Great Black-backed Gull -14
• Black-legged Kittiwake -12
. Pomeranian Jaeger 11
• Mourning Dove
• Rock Pigeon
• Blue Jay
• American Crow
• Black-capped Chickadee
• White-breasted Nuthatch -5
• European Starling
• Cedar Waxwing - 4
• Dark-eyed Junco -5
• Snow Bunting -1
• American Goldfinch
• House Sparrow
62 species seen
Any errors or omissions, please contact sender