Niagara River - Dec 22

Got to the river on the 22nd - had the urge to do some extended gull study, and I did just that... I also photographed all 8 species of gulls I saw (plus 1 of 2 hybrids). So I'll add a sprinkle of pics throughout.

I wanted some large ugly gulls, with the only rarities in mind being Slaty-backed or Glaucous-winged Gulls.. Anyways here's what I saw:

This counts as my pic for Bonaparte's and Ring-billed. The river was very active all day. 

Adam Beck early- got there at 9am... The Nelson's Gull (juv) was sitting in the same spot as a few weeks earlier. It is a real beauty, and I finally managed a crappy pic (see below).

Had at least 2, probably 3 Thayer's. 2 adults for sure. 1 juv gull was U-G-L-Y, and pretty much the highlight of my day. I'll post more about it later.

Also turned up several Kumlien's, including one very white bird (pic added) - a 3rd winter. No Glaucous or surprisingly NO Lesser BB's to be seen. For some reason, every god dawm Lesser sits on Goat Island on the US side now...

Final highlight was a 1st winter HEGU with trauma fault baring. Things were really active, until some unknown force freaked out the gulls 3-4 times and a good number of them left. Onwards!

Only GBBG pic on the day

HEGU with trauma baring 

Very white 3rd winter "Kumlien's"?? Gull - Didn't look great for glaucoides, although in my limited visits in 2012 - I've seen an abnormal number of very white "Iceland Gulls"

Pic of the beauty Nelson's. It's so sweet, it could even be a Glaucous-winged X Glaucous hybrid, but it'll never tell.. Seems to REALLY like that spot. 

Whirlpool - I decided to do the Whirlpool going south, then the roosting rocks later in the aft when I came back... I stood in the wind looking at Bonaparte's for 5-10 minutes before I forgot that small gulls on the river are boring. SO I left

Above the falls - I like to do a long check above/below the falls. It's my fav. thing to do on the river. I park at Dufferin Island and walk from the control gates, down to the gorge, and back to the control gates before back to the car. I even got to hand-feed a Tufted Titmouse this time, and that was AWESOME (Also got some pics, but will update later). Anywhoo

--- Saw 10+ Lesser BB's on Goat Island again. Buggers... Also 2 Glaucous Gulls over there.. Why can't they come to our side??? 

An adult Herring X Great Black-backed Gull was on the wall on our side. Probably the same freakin bird as every visit I've had there since 2009. There was also a very nice 3rd winter Thayer's Gull on the wall (pics). 

Above the falls was very busy with ton's-o'bonaparte's but no Little's or Black-headed (none all day). Picked out more LBBG's and a few Kumlien's, but generally lackluster given the number of birds. Had a hybrid like thing that could have been a Lesser BB X Herring but I couldn't confirm. 

3rd winter Thayer's Gull 

Below the falls: No gulls of note, and not even that many. Boo... Although for the first time in a while, I was really impressed with the land of missfit waterbirds that the gorge can often attract. Some noteworthies:

2 Common Loons
1 Horned Grebe

2 Coots

20ish Wigeon

1 Black Scoter

1 Hooded Merg

2 Red-breasted Mergs

sev Common Mergs

10ish Double-crested Corms, 

among some of the other regulars. always fun. will find an alcid here someday. 

Back above the falls: More Glaucous Gulls and stuff had arrived, as birds roost here in the evenings. I really like staying here at dusk, but it was waay too early, so I traveled onwards. 

Glauc pic for the day

Roosting Rocks - I learned my lesson at the whirlpool and decided that I would be bored with pretty and small gulls here.. I wanted UGLY, so I skipped it and went back to Adam Beck

Adam Beck late - I think it was getting too nice (too much sun, wind dying down), so activity was lower. Still managed a juv Lesser Black-backed Gull, more Kumlien's, the same Nelson's etc etc

First Winter Yellow-legged Lesser Black-backed Gull at Adam Beck

I had been on the river for a solid 5.5 hours and was getting hungry. I thought about Queenston, but decided against it. Best thing to do was to head home and relax! Which is exactly what I did. Maybe if we ever get some decent winter weather, there will be more gull fun to be had?! 

Adult Thayer's from Adam Beck in the morning. All 8 species photographed and shown here!