gss@edsdrd.eds.com (Gary Schiltz) (11/09/90)
I'm leading a small group of birders to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
over Thanksgiving weekend (Fri, 11/23/90 - Sun, 11/25/90). Nobody in
the group (including me) has been there in the winter, but I've always
heard the birding is spectacular, with a number of unusual gulls
(Thayers, Little, Iceland), ducks (Harlequin's, King Eider) and Purple
Sandpiper being fairly regular late fall migrants. I have a lot of
questions:
o Which gulls other than the usual Bonaparte's, Ring-billed and
Herring are most abundant at this time of year?
o Any rules of thumb on how to tell Iceland and Thayer's apart? I
have Kaufmann's Advanced Birding, from which I gather there are
no hard-and-fast rules, other than LOTS of careful study over the
years (I'm working on that :-<> )
o What are the best spots in the general area and at what time of
day are the birds most active in those spots? I have an article
from Birder's World, but any first hand information from the net
would be appreciated.
o Are there any good spots in the area for owls? A Great Gray would
be nice, but I suppose November is a little early for one. Too
late for Saw-whets?
Also, if anyone is planning on being in the falls area during this time,
I'd like to hear from you; maybe we could do some birding together. It's
always nice to be able to attach a face to a name :-)
----
/\ What cheer, /\ | Gary Schiltz, EDS R&D, 3551 Hamlin Road |
/ o< cheer, <o \ | Auburn Hills, MI 48057, (313) 370-1737 |
\\/ ) / cheer, \ ( \// | gss@edsdrd.eds.com |
\ / cheer!!! \ / | "Have bird will watch ..." |33016_704@uwovax.uwo.ca (11/12/90)
In article <310@kepsalu.edsdrd.eds.com>, gss@edsdrd.eds.com (Gary Schiltz) writes: > I'm leading a small group of birders to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada > over Thanksgiving weekend (Fri, 11/23/90 - Sun, 11/25/90). Nobody in > > o What are the best spots in the general area and at what time of > day are the birds most active in those spots? I have an article > from Birder's World, but any first hand information from the net > would be appreciated. > Information on birding the Niagara Region can be found in "A Bird-Finding Guide to Ontario", Clive E. Goodwin, University of Toronto Press, 1982 (ISBN 0-8020-6494-9) Goodwin lists the 'hot spots' along the river, giving directions as distances along the roadways. There are three pages of birding spots listed. His trip starts east of Old Fort Erie, at Bardol Street at the start of Lakeshore Road (3km from the Peace Bridge along the Lakeshore Road at the end of the Queen Elizabeth Way and Highway 3). Essentially he follows the river and stops at just about every place where it is possible to pull off the road. One of the best spots is above the Horseshoe Falls, just north of the old power plant building, where waterfowl and gulls mass. Purple sandpipers can often be seen through a 'scope on the rocks in mid-river. Barrow's Goldeneye and King Eider have been seen here. A 'must' stop for gulls is the parking lot at the Sir Adam Beck generating station. Here you can look down on thousands of gulls wheeling around above the outflow. (Trying to provide the location of THE white-winged gull can be challenging!) Lesser Black-Backed gulls have been seen easily here -- standing on top of the buildings. The sand docks at Queenston are another good spot, with Little Gull and an occasional Common Black-Headed Gull being reported here. In Niagara-On-The-Lake, at the mouth of the river, dawn and dusk feature a fly-by of large numbers of gulls and ducks as they move in and out to feed on the lake. Also, worth checking here, are the houses around Front Street and Simcoe Street. Many residents have feeders, and the sheltered climate of Niagara often produces wintering Carolina Wren, Tufted Titmouse, and Northern Mockingbird. The first breeding records for House Finches were noted here. I hope you can locate a copy of Goodwin's book (wish I had a scanner!) -- and that your group has an enjoyable trip. Good luck.