OFO Walk: Niagara River - Part 4

After seeing the Lark Sparrow, Adam and I decided to go home but make a stop at the Burlington Skyway. The reason we stopped here is because we were recommended to go here because there were 3 Snowy Owls seen there earlier in the day. So we arrived at Tollgate Ponds (where they were reported) and I immediately saw a Snowy on the tip of the rocks. It didn't take us long to find another Snowy, and then another. We were all so happy to see 3 Snowy Owls. Another lifer!!!

The Snowies are circled in red.

We didn't stay for long because it was getting dark and we had one more place to stop at. Just a little ways down the road there was a bridge above a small river. We were slow and quiet to approach the edge of the bridge because in that river was so many ducks. There was Shoveler, Mallard, Green-Winged Teal, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Cormorant, Black-Crowned Night Herons, and even a couple Northern Pintail. That Pintail was another lifer and a nemesis bird!!! I was so happy to see it.

After that we headed home. This trip brought my life list up to 196! Only 4 more for 200!

OFO Walk: Niagara River - Part 3

At this point, Adam and I were pretty pumped about seeing another lifer but unfortunately, the trip ended. Some people were going to look for Little Gulls at Queenston or something and some were going to see the Lark Sparrow that wasn't reported since noon. So Adam and I decided to go see the Lark Sparrow and add another lifer. So we drove down. It took a long time to drive but we were along the river so I saw a Common  Loon really close to shore. Eventually we got to the house that it was reported at and there was already a huge line of cars. When we got there I asked Matthew (the other young birder that I mentioned earlier) if they saw it at all and he said no. He did tell me that there was a Bald Eagle in a tree right behind us that we didn't notice so I ran over to get some photos (I haven't seen a Bald Eagle up close or taken a photo). But before i could get to it, it flew off.

I did get some really crappy shots of it from behind.

After the Bald Eagle took off, leaving my mom and I disappointed, we looked for the Lark Sparrow some more. Matthew noticed some birds flying around two houses over so he decided to check it out. At this point we were walking to the car so we could drive home but then someone came out of the backyard that Matthew was going in and said "The sparrow's over here!!". I called my mom and ran for the backyard as the other birders were doing. I went down the side of the house towards the backyard and there was already a huge crowd of people lined up. I have never seen so many people trying to find one bird. Birders are so polite. They were actually in a line. No pushing, no yelling. Quiet and collected. Eventually I got to the front. I was ahead of my mom by about 10 people. I looked around for movement in the trees but I got nothing. Until a small songbird landed on a feeder a couple meters from us. It was the sparrow! I don't know how but my mom managed to get in front of me while I was desperately trying to get photos of it. But I made it out with a couple blurry shots. 

This is quite the bird. Another lifer!

One more part left.

Hope you enjoyed.

OFO Walk: Niagara River - Part 2

After seeing the Red Phalarope, Purple Sandpiper, Peregrine Falcon, and Tufted Titmouse I was pretty excited to go to the falls to look for more rarities. The falls seemed pretty quiet with only a couple gulls flying around and nothing special showed up (Bonies, Herring, Ring-Billed) until someone called "KITTIWAKE!" Adam and I rushed to the person who found it and asked where it was. He had lost it. There was another young birder there beside us (a little older than us and more experienced than me) named Matthew. I didn't exactly know what Kittiwake juvis look like but I noticed a different looking gull flying around and I pointed it out to him and asked if that was it. It was! Soon enough everyone saw the bird and was frantically trying to get a better look. It would sometimes get lost in the mist until it came back out and everyone was on it. At one point, some stranger (not a birder) asked me what we were looking at. I just told her it was a different kind of seagull.

If you squint your eyes and lean in you should be able to make out a juvi Black-Legged Kittiwake.

We then headed back to our car to get some food for lunch and some more Titmouse photos.

We then headed for the control gates to look for more gulls. We arrived and there was already a long line of birders with their scopes set up. When we asked someone if they saw anything good they said nothing but a Lesser Black-Backed Gull and some Greater Black-Backed Gulls. Eventually, a birder pointed out an odd looking gull sleeping on the wall. It had the characteristics of a Thayers Gull (by how much we could see it) but its billed was tucked into its body and we couldn't see its legs. This lead to a giant debate to whether it was a Thayers or a hybrid. We hoped it was Thayers because Adam and I had never seen one before. We just let the more experienced birders sort it out while we went to another area to look for a giant flock of Tundra Swans that was seen by another birder. It took us a really long time to find them until some guy with a scope found the flock. He let us look and it wasn't the best views of Tundra Swans because they were so far out that it was hard to see them even with a scope. But I'm not complaining. That's another lifer! I'm that much closer to 200! We got back and the ones arguing about the possible Thayers gull still hadn't resolved it. Until Jean Iron confirmed it was a Thayers Gull. Another lifer for Adam and I!

This trip will be posted in separate parts. 

Thanks for reading!

OFO Walk: Niagara River - Part 1

Today an OFO walk was scheduled at the Niagara River so I decided to go. The group met at Sir Adam Beck Generating Station Overlook to look for some gulls there. I expected to see some friends there (Adam Capparelli and Jeremy Bensette). Adam did show up but unfortunately Jeremy had some personal things going on so he couldn't come.

There wasn't much to see at Adam Beck Overlook other than a couple Icelands Gulls and a Lesser Black-Backed Gull. The LBBG was a lifer for me! Someone also said they saw a Thayers gull, but it wasn't confirmed. A Red Tailed Hawk did come in and spook a bunch of gulls but it just passed through.

The group then drove over to Dufferin Island for a previously reported Red Phalarope. When we arrived there were a couple of feeders in a little forested area. Plenty of sparrows. I saw Juncos, House Sparrows, American Tree Sparrows, and even a White Crowned Sparrow. There were also chickadees and a Golden Crowned Kinglet there but the main attraction at the feeders were a couple of Tufted Titmice that would visit occasionally. The Titmouse was another lifer! I saw many lifers today. We then walked to the river to look for the Red Phalarope and there were already a lot of people there so we expected it to be there. As soon as we leaned over the railing we saw it! It was about 5 feet away from the railing! Along with the Phalarope, we also saw a Peregrine Falcon ripping apart something and a Purple Sandpiper!

The rest of the trip will be posted in separate parts.

Thanks for reading!

Sorry for not posting pictures. I fixed that.
                                          Red Phalarope

                                          Tufted Titmouse

TOC Walk Humber Bay Park

Today I met up with the TOC at Humber Bay Park east. My friends Noah Enkin and Adam Capparelli were there. We explored Humber Bay Park east and west for a while. The birds worth noticing were a Great Black-Backed Gull, a couple Common Mergansers, four (or possibly one) Pied-Billed Grebe, a giant raft of ducks (mostly Greater Scaup), a couple hybrid Mallard x Black Duck, a luesistic Mallard, and a muskrat that was very cooperative. Unfortunately only Adam and I saw the muskrat and the weird mallards because Noah had to leave early.

The group then drove over to Colonel Samuel Smith Park to continue the trip. Even before we could park, I noticed two very large birds in a tree at the side of the road, so I got out while my mom parked the car. It turned out that it was two Red Tailed Hawks! They only stayed for a couple minutes then flew off. The Harlequin Duck was still around Rotary Park so some birders got some good looks at a Harlequin Duck through a scope. We then travelled to the end of Colonel Samuel Smith Park and saw    a group of 5 Trumpeter Swans and a Horned Grebe. On the way back someone thought they saw a Northern Shrike on the other side of the park, so we walked over to check it out. On the way there, Adam and I noticed a fairly large white gull flying over us. It was a Glaucous Gull! Lifer! So we called it out to our group and I hope everyone saw it but who knows. We went to check the area with the "Northern Shrike" and looked for a while until I noticed a grey Robin-sized bird on the top of a tree. It was a Northern Mockingbird. I knew right away that this bird was the "Northern Shrike". So we headed back.

Overall it was a pretty good day. Tomorrow I will be heading down to Niagara Falls on the OFO trip to look for gulls.

This is my first blog post and I will post more, hopefully you enjoyed.