This Thursday, Ken Burrell and I are
going to attempt a world record…
15
species of gull in a single region/day!
While a Black-headed Gull and a Black-legged Kittiwake seem to be
hanging around, we will other semi-regulars have yet to be seen this fall… So
rather than wait for them to be found and do a twitch fest, we decided to pick
a great weather-day and do it ourselves.
Here’s the plan:
Dawn at Fort Erie: small
gulls will be the rule here, with Ross’s on our minds… Hopefully the mild fall (up
until recently) means there will be a lingering Sabine’s as well… Back in 2012,
post Hurricane-Sandy our group scored Ross’s, Sabine’s, Kittiwake and Black-headed
here in a single morning… This may be our primary hope for Franklin’s and the
only prayer for an outside-chance Laughing.
Fort Erie north: after
our dawn-watch, we’ll probably struggle to scan the small gulls that love
Buffalo more than Canada… If we have already scored some big-name small-gull
rarities, perhaps we can scan faster… Fingers will also be crossed that decent
numbers of ducks and large gulls will be foraging closer to the Canadian side
in order to avoid the frigid NW wind. We’ll be lucky to score a Franklin’s or
California.
Drive: we’ll zip past the mid-river “dead zone” and arrive at Dufferin Islands ASAP. And no, we won’t be checking for Titmice or the Mandarin Duck. This is a record attempt!!
The falls: extra
walking will mean extra species… We will walk from the control gates, down
below the falls and back – ensuring we get multiple angles on each feeding
frenzy and roosting congregation. If the winds are more N than W, hopefully
water levels will be lower allowing for more roosting & foraging opportunities.
Above the falls: this is thee place for large-gull rarities at this time of year. Slaty-backed seems to be quite fond of the area, but it has turned up nearly everything in the past (Mew, California etc.). I’m sure many of us have this as thee hypothetical Glaucous-winged location for the river…
Below the falls: not
skipping out on this gem. Short on large-gull rarities in the past, there is a certain
“magic” below the falls. Sometimes there is hardly a bird, but today we’ll be
checking every nook and cranny for something special (our best chance for Ivory
Gull??).
Whirlpool: another
small-gull spot. We expect to check it for the lingering Black-headed Gull,
Kittiwake or another small gull… If by some fluke we already have all the small
gulls, we can easily skip it!
Roosting Rocks:
medium-gull magic? Has an odd nack for turning up rarities that we just don’t
see elsewhere… Probably our best chance for Mew Gull, but also worth checking
for any small gulls, Franklins or even California… The first river-record of
Black-tailed would do us wonders.
Adam Beck: can’t
overlook it. Long gone are the days of the resident California Gull. This is a
very popular stop on any birders river-day, but I suspect we will carefully
measure our time here… The “constant action” atmosphere of this lookout may not
be suited to a world record attempt… This may be where we start to question our
definition of species if a “Vega” or “Kamchatka” Gull are circling around…
Queenston Docks: a
difficult vantage point, but one that has turned up goodies like Mew, “Common”
Mew and Black-headed in the past… Depending on conditions up-river, massive
numbers of birds can be present here. By this point in our day, we will very
much need to make decisions based on our current list… That leads us to:
THE DECISION: Two
hypothetical scenarios. Only one more stop remains!
1)
– We went on a small-gull tear, and have already
picked up Ross’s, Sabine’s, Black-headed & Kittiwake…
2)
– We went on a large-gull tear, and picked up
California, Slaty-backed and Laughing…
1) Return to “Above the falls”:
If large gulls are lacking on our total, we head back to the control
gates & the “above the falls” area… At dusk, large numbers of large gulls
return from nearby landfills to roost… As the light fails, a stunning
Slaty-backed will cruise down to solidify our day…
2) Niagara-on-the-lake: If we
somehow missed Ross’s or Black-headed, we’ll zip down the NOTL. A quick check of
the rivermouth could also help us pick up that missing Kittiwake (if need be),
but most likely we will begin the vigil of the “dusk flypast”. Working over the
rapid-fire flocks of Bonaparte’s heading to roost. A stiff W or NW wind will
keep the birds close to our shore, making the Franklin’s or Black-headed that
much sweeter as it passes.
Boom! I’ll be live-tweeting the record attempt, so feel free to follow
along… I’ve touched on a few *variables* that will aid our day, but wanted to
jot them down here:
-
A warm fall may help a few species “linger” –
such as Sabine’s, Franklin’s or even Laughing…
-
Recent & ongoing west or NW winds will push gulls
off of Lake Erie and into the river (Ross’s!)
-
W or NW winds may help keep birds closer to the
Canadian shore in specific areas (Black-headed during the evening flypast!)
-
Recent snowfall will concentrate some species at
the river… I’m thinking California or especially Mew, that are more likely to
shift to aquatic habitats (from fields etc) in “times of need”
-
COLD weather will increase food demands on the
birds. More flying/foraging means easier detection, but hopefully some larger
gulls who aren’t getting their fair share at the landfills will return to the
river early… (California, Black-tailed, dare I say Yellow-legged?)
-
Recent cold fronts will hopefully have brought
the “Arctic” gulls down in greater numbers… Slaty-backed seems like a bit of a “freeze
out” species, Ivory s a mid-late December bird, and it would also jive for
Glaucous-winged…
Of course, some of these factors could really give us grief… Cold air
can = shimmer and poor visibility. As can lake-effect snowsqualls. Fingers are
crossed the NW wind helps prevent squalls from the best spots…
Finally, there is always a magical, unknown date that occurs in late fall – every single year. It’s the date when birding during stormy weather is no longer productive or fun… You suddenly realize that birds just shelter during COLD winds, and actually fly around more on the nice days… When that happens, migration is essentially over, and you wonder why you froze your @$$ off for nothing… Hopefully it hasn’t happened yet.
Stay tuned!
