Trip Report by Connie Goldman

The annual season of gull congregation in the Niagara Falls area had arrived. Our group of friends would take another trip to see the variety of species possible to find there during this brief migration phenomenon. Having done this multiple times before, we had our travel strategy down. Karl Lukens of Cape May, NJ came up the evening before to stay at the home of Bert Filemyr of Meadowbrook, PA. Connie Goldman of Churchville, PA drove to meet them there just before 6 am and the three of us headed up the Northeast Extension. Just before 7am, we met Ann Scott of Telford, PA at the Lansdale exit. We were now fully loaded, with gull books and field guides, cold-weather clothing, generous supplies of snacks, and our favorite happy hour beverages. We four dauntless birders began our 2009 Niagara adventure.

Day 1 – Monday December 7th, 2009

While our trip focus was gulls, we were interested in seeing whatever birds were up and about this day. As the daylight brightened on our route north, we began ticking off species seen along the highway - an American Crow here or there, Wild Turkeys in a field, a Blue Jay on the edge of the woods. Ring-billed Gulls and Rock Pigeons dominated the skies over Syracuse NY and other developed areas. We spotted what would be the only Snow Geese location of the trip grazing in the fields at Montezuma NWR as we sped by. Red-tailed Hawk sightings became more and more frequent as they seemed posted as hungry sentinels every 100 feet or so in northernmost New York. Great columbian rats! Our annual “shrike watch” did not come through for us on the drive up, but we spotted the occasional American Kestrel perched on wires. By lunchtime we were approaching the border into Canada. We had lunch at a rest stop inside the USA, then drove just a few minutes more bird to make our first official birding stop on the American side of Niagara Falls.

Greeting us at the parking lot on Goat Island was a very inquisitive and aggressive squirrel. It was intent on getting into the van where there was a treasure trove of snacks. We were able, just barely, to keep the squirrel from becoming the fifth member of the group. Posting ourselves alongside the river on Goat Island, we got our first looks at the birds swirling in the skies and perched on exposed rocks just above Horseshoe Falls. Hundreds of delicate Bonaparte’s Gulls flew among the more common Ring-billed and Herring Gulls there. Common Goldeneye ducks bobbed and dove in the churning waters approaching the falls. Not forgetting to notice our passerine friends, we identified Black-capped Chickadees and Tufted Titmouse in the trees nearby. We birded along the river and reached a viewing spot for birds now in the calmer waters below the falls. Lesser Scaup, American Wigeon and Bufflehead ducks swam there. A less common view of a Long-tailed Duck, perched up out of the water on rocks, was interesting. Common Loon was also here.

We crossed the border and went just above the falls again, but with our vantage point now from the Canadian side. Around the huge rusted barge lodged there many years ago, thousands of birds swarmed and perched on any available rocks. With binoculars and scopes, we scanned the throng, trying to pick out different species. We added Hooded Merganser, Gadwall, Black Duck, Iceland Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull to our list.

The Sir Adam Beck Overlook provided us more success. As we stood high above the power plant effluent gates, it was clear that some unknown foodstuff was plentiful here. A mass of gulls swirled above the waters there, dipping frequently in the surf to grab up morsels. Scanning the flock we found both juvenile and adult Iceland Gulls, a juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull, and an immature Thayer’s Gull.

Our last stop of the day was one we looked forward to. In the strings of Bonaparte’s Gulls flying out of the river nightly to roost on Lake Ontario, it is possible at times to find Little and Black-Headed Gulls. We still lacked sightings of these species.

The river was already busy with birds as we arrived. Row after row of Bonaparte’s proceeded down the river. Loose groups flew at treetop level, tight lines glided just above the water level, and some rows of birds went from lower to higher to lower again. We sorted through the groups, following along with their movements, quickly determining what color the underwings were, and looking for any difference in size. Before long, Little Gull was spotted, speeding by in front of us, and everyone got on it! More and more Bonaparte’s groups came around the bend far to our right and proceeded past dock, marina building, marina, and housing, as we watched. Another Little Gull! Another and another and another was spotted! We had seen five! As the dim light of dusk descended, it became harder and harder to distinguish field marks on individual birds. We had not seen a Black-headed Gull, but were happy with our experience here.

Satisfied with our efforts for the day, we decided to end our birding, and proceeded to our nearby hotel. We compiled our first day’s list during happy hour in our hotel rooms. Dinner at Kelsey’s in Clifton Heights made for a fun celebration of our day.

Day 2 – Tuesday, December 11th, 2009

While we had more local birding to do, we decided to venture farther away this day, which had promised the better weather of the week. After breakfast in our hotel we headed out by 7:45 and made a stop at the Whirlpool. As reported, the spot was virtually filled with Bonaparte’s and other gulls. This presented the challenge of sorting through the horde for other species. We spent some time doing so, but did not come up with new species. A stop at Sir Adam Beck Overlook on our way out of town gave another chance to enjoy the various gulls there. Iceland Gulls flew and floated the waters, and another peek at the Thayer’s was enjoyed. We took a short hike to an area of exposed rocks upstream from the overlook and sorted through the gulls roosting there. A California Gull reported by others in this area did not reveal itself for us today.

Leaving Niagara Falls, we drove to the Stoney Creek area next, having reports of raptors there. The first species we saw, though, were a couple Northern Mockingbirds around housing. While seen commonly at home, we noted that these were in the northerly limits of their range. We spent a good portion of the morning near 11 Rd East, enjoying numerous sightings. Red-tails were the predominant species, seeming to be in every other tree. We looked closely at all candidates for other raptor species. A small bird proved to be a Northern Shrike, wagging its tail from the top of a shrub. The pressure for our “shrike watch” was now off! A nicely-lit male American Kestrel was seen perched on a wire. A great Blue Heron was a surprising and interesting find in a field! Finally, a bird perched typically at the tippy top of a tree was I.D.’d as a light morph Rough-legged Hawk! Stepping out of the vehicle to set up our scopes to view the bird, a vole near the roadside scurried into the grassy entrance of its underground shelter. Apparently the birds had ample food here.

We continued driving the road, and came to a shrubby area, noisy with songbird calls. We stopped to try and see who was around. American Goldfinches and House Finches flew from the shrubbery and a jay called in the area. From the car, looking deep into the shrub, a bird with black wings tucked over a grey back was partially visible. Another shrike sighting!! This bird flew out of the bush and perched up in a tree right along the road, providing close looks and photo ops.

We continued on and arrived at a field with a Red-tailed Hawk on the ground close to the road’s edge. It cocked its head as if trying to peer down an unknown hole. As we stopped for photos of this individual, we quickly noted additional raptors in the same expansive field. On either side, perched on fencing, in shrubs or on the ground, hawks watched for their prey. One Red-tailed was seen shaking a vole in its beak – “stir contents before consuming?” Among the Red-taileds were numerous Rough-legged Hawks, which actively flew the area, hunting the evidently vole-rich field. We spent some time enjoying this raptor extravaganza.

Next we went to the lakeside and birded the duck flock from the JP Skinner Park. An amazing number of ducks could be seen. Thousands of Common Goldeneye swam the lake. We sifted through, looking for Barrow’s, but not finding one. It was like trying to find a diving needle in a watery haystack! We found Black, Surf and White-winged Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, and a small group of Hooded Mergansers. Farther out from shore we could appreciate huge rafts of ducks, too far away for identification, even with spotting scopes. We marveled at the ponderous number of ducks in front of us.

We drove next to the Hamilton Harbor Inlet. Perched high on an arm of a communication tower here we found a Peregrine Falcon. He seemed to be peering hungrily toward the flock of pigeons flying around the bridge. We walked to the lake edge and scanned for gulls and ducks, but found the area less birdy than on some previous visits. We went on to the town of Burlington and found the pair of Brant Ducks that had been reported there, on lawn at Lakeshore Park – another example of individuals loitering north of their known winter range. We rewarded ourselves by finding a local Tim Horton’s and enjoying lunch there.

We attempted a “chase” of a western vagrant next. In a Brampton neighborhood, a surprising Phainopepla had set up residence, presumably roosting in cedars or other neighborhood evergreens, and seen feeding on rose hips in a back yard! We happily noticed the “welcome birders” sign set up on a card table on the pavement walkway as we parked our car. We went into the yard, following the instructions of the homeowner, and spent a half hour waiting quietly for the bird to come and feed. It did not show, and we had other places to bird this day, so we signed the visitor log and moved on.
We drove to Bronte Creek Park and walked some evergreen areas. We saw a flock of American Robins, more Red-tailed Hawks and some Black-capped Chickadees, but could not locate any of the owls reported in various areas of this expansive park.

LaSalle Marina Park was our next stop. The usual gregarious Mallard flock was congregated near the boat ramp here. Farther out we found Redhead Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Merganser, and Ruddy Duck. There were Greater Scaup and an American Cook near the dock. The expected Trumpeter Swans here were joined by a Mute or two.

Not wanting to linger too long, we headed lastly for the Niagara fly-by area at Fort George. We again enjoyed several Little Gulls flying with the thousands of Bonaparte’s Gulls. We then headed back to our hotel for happy hour, list compilation and happy conversation about the day’s birding experiences. Dinner at a local Italian restaurant was a fun ending to the day.

Day 3 – Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

What kind of birding would be possible today? The weather promised rain, and potentially, lots of it! We would see what we could see and lay great hopes on the reported “window” in the storm that might give us a drier time. We had our usual hotel breakfast and headed out at about 7:45am to begin birding. We birded various areas along the Niagara River, heading south this day, toward Fort Erie. Stops at the Dufferin Island Natural area were focused on adding songbirds to our trip sightings. Among the species in the feeding area here were White-breasted Nuthatch, Cardinal, Black-capped Chickadees and Downy Woodpecker.

A visit to the Control Gates area had us out of the car and birding under sun peeking out from huge grey clouds. We checked the concrete ledge there, locating Lesser Black-backed, Greater Black-backed, Herring and Ring-billed Gulls. Where were the Glaucous Gulls this year?

We checked the feeders at Peter’s Road, but found them quieter in the rain and wind than in previous years. Each visit to a place is different…. We proceeded back to riverside and drove along hoping for additional duck species and congregations of gulls. Neither of these were found, with the river above way above the falls being uncharacteristically low in bird numbers. We did have repeat views of species already seen, but no opportunity to sort through large gull numbers or large duck flocks.

We decided to turn around and go the other way. We went back to Niagara Falls, the made a stop at Sir Adam Beck Overlook, finding no new species. With rain on and off, and heavy at times, we opted against hiking up to the alternate viewing area. We went to the Queenston Docks and found the area filled with birds. We again located Little Gull among the hundreds of Bonaparte’s circling the area. Larger gulls included Herring, Ring-billed and Great Black-backed. Fishermen reported smelts in the area, churned up by the falls power pumps and providing ample food to attract this bird throng. And then, there it was! A Glaucous Gull was spotted! All in our group got on the large pale gull. Another target species had been seen by all of us. We stayed a while, awed by the phenomenon of such a large bird congregation. Then, hard rain returned and had us going back to the car to try and find another birding spot.

We proceeded to Niagara-on-the-Lake and birded the Shakespeare Rd area bird feeders. Unfortunately, the rain and wind had feeders here un-birdy also. Under dark grey skies with looming clouds and rising winds, we decided to cut our losses and end our birding day earlier than usual. Back at our hotel we rested, had a leisurely happy hour and compiled our list. Though not the most productive day, bird-wise, we had had some enjoyable birding experiences. Dinner at local restaurant was a fun ending to the day.

Day 4 – Thursday December 10th, 2009

After reports of weather promising snow up to inches in accumulation and winds with gusts up to 50mph, we cautiously began our last morning of the trip. But though much colder, we found only a dusting of icy snow and more moderate winds. We decided to try and hit some hotspots again before heading home. We drove to the Dufferin Island feeder area and found the feeders visited by a few birds this morning. No new species showed. Next we went back to the Peter’s Street feeders and found them again less busy than in previous years. But before leaving we had spotted a Red-bellied Woodpecker on one of the suet feeders, and a few American Tree Sparrows visited a tree in the corner of one yard.

We had noted as we drove parallel to the Niagara that the water level had risen dramatically overnight. This effectively did away with the majority of roosting rocks and at the top of the falls area. We decided to try the Control Gates, where gulls commonly roosted along a long concrete abuttment. We approached the stop only to find this ledge also overcome by the wind-pushed waters. The skies held throngs of gulls, swirling in huge masses overhead, creating their own particular kind of spectacle. We wondered how this might affect the Whirlpool area, so went there next to see what was around. The spot also had high waters, but may fewer gulls and only rare Bonaparte’s. We headed next to Queenston boat dock. The low elevation of the site, protected naturally from the rough winds, created a calm setting. Here, also, large gulls flew by the thousands. The area appeared as if it were a gigantic Christmas dome, shaken up by some enormous hand, with gull-shaped snow swirling, floating, dipping over the water. We birded from the shore and were able to locate some Bonaparte’s Gulls and one adult Iceland among the throngs of Ring-bills, Herrings and Great Black-backs there. The spectacle held our attention for awhile, and we looked in awe at the shear numbers of birds congregating in this one spot as a part of their annual wanderings to find food.

We crossed the border and began our homeward trip. A birding ride around the impoundments at Batavia Water Treatment Plant was not possible, as snow-covered dikes had not yet been plowed. We continued on to our “Pileated spot” at Montezuma NWR – but neither these woodpeckers nor other species showed for us here. We drove the auto tour road of the refuge and the Potatoes building area, and found Snow Geese, Canada Geese, American Tree Sparrows, Double-crested Cormorant, and Common Mergansers. Numerous Bald Eagles were spotted, including one immature that flew right over our vehicle, and a pair of adults that sat together in a tree near a large nest.
This being our last official stop, we compiled our day’s list and concentrated on getting home safely, stopping at rest stops for meals. Ann was dropped off by 6:45pm at the Lansdale exit of the NE Extension, met there by her husband. The remaining three of us reached Bert’s house by around 7:30, and Karl and Connie headed home from there. It had been another fun and rewarding birding trip – and to boot, we had clarified once and for all that the Canada Goose is NOT named after John Canada! We all agreed that next year could easily find us making the trip again!