My New Years Birding

Was an ill-advised trip to the Niagara River! It was way too warm to hope for good gulls, but I went none the less.

Highlights were the usual gulls (except Little:) Glaucous (6), Iceland, Thayer's (1) and Lesser Black-backed. Everywhere was pretty slow.

I actually had the time to drive the river, heading to Fort Erie, checking gulls and waterfowl on the way. I found two impressive swarms of Bonaparte's Gulls, feeding in the outflows of a few small creeks, that were awesome to look at (a few thousand birds within 10ft of the road). Unfortunately there was nothing unusual with them at all.

Ducks were also pretty fun - great looks from right inside the car. I picked up most of the expected species of "Bay Ducks", with nothing really noteworthy. Even snapped a few pictures on the day:

taken out the car window...


40 species total! Not terrible for a rainy day..