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!