On the way down, we stopped in at Stoney Creek, to catch up with my long overdue yearbird Surf Scoter. On the first we were successful, and were also treated to large numbers of the other scoters and long-tailed ducks.
The early morning made for some nice lighting
There was also some pretty good numbers of Black Scoter, all females!
Common Goldeneyes were also plentiful
Despite the lack of King Eiders, I was content with the stops, and we continued on.
We arrived at Adam Beck just after 9, where the group of nearly 100 birders were waiting. The Niagara trip draws a lot of people, and is one of OFO's most popular trips by far. I think it's because most people can't ID gulls, and jump at the first gull trip they see... Which can be a good strategy because the trip normally gets around 10 species of gulls, counting Thayer's (a subspecies of Iceland). A quick scan of the rocks turned up 2 first cycle Thayer's in with the usual Herring and Bonaparte's Gulls. 3 species down. An adult Thayer's also made a brief appearance flying up the river, but the overall low numbers forced us to move upriver, to where 5 Harlequin Ducks had been seen over the past week.
We parked in the Dufferin Islands parking lot, and walked through the park to the river. There was lots of mallards, gadwall and the odd Hooded Merganser.
Out at the river there was a tame Redhead, and also a Lesser Black-backed Gull, a yearbird!
Makes one think 'ooh, pretty'
Right in the center. Not the best view but a view nonetheless!
The Harlequin Ducks were hiding behind a rock pretty far out on the river, but provided fantastic scope views! I managed to see all four adult males and the one immature male/female all together! A great yearbird, and one I hadn't seen in a while.
Likely these same birds have been coming back to this exact rock to roost on for a few years now.
My original favourite gull, the Ring-billed Gull. I find their bill and face so nice, and they're always tame enough to photograph too.
Part II coming!
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