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December 2006

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From:
Chris Spagnoli <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Chris Spagnoli <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 4 Dec 2006 11:30:00 -0500
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For the past several days a third-year SLATY-BACKED GULL has been
reported from Canadian Niagara Falls (it has been sitting fairly near
the border but to the best of my knowledge has not been observed to
cross yet).  I learned of this yesterday from the Genesee-birds listserv
while in Syracuse, and as I was traveling back to Cleveland that day, I
decided to make a detour to Niagara Falls to take a stab at finding the
bird.  I was extremely fortunate and did see the bird - actually found
some folks looking at it on my first stop.
 
The location where I observed the bird (which seems to be where the bird
is roosting in the late afternoon) can be reached in about three and a
half hours from Cleveland.  Take 90 up to Buffalo and get on I-190
north.  After hopping over Grand Island, when you reach the "mainland"
again take the Robert Moses Parkway west into the American Niagara Falls
and get on Niagara Boulevard to the Rainbow Bridge.  After crossing the
Rainbow Bridge into Canada, take a left whenever you can and then take
another left when you can to get back to Niagara River Road which
parallels the river itself.  Turn right onto Niagara River Road and
you'll go past a bunch of parking lots and viewing sites dedicated to
the falls themselves.  Keep watch on the left and you'll see a building
with some construction going on between it and the road, and a short
open drive that cannot fit more than four cars stacked up.
 
You're now upriver of the falls and in the middle of the river there are
various rocks and tiny islets that stand just out of the water.  Gulls
take advantage of these perches and the slaty-backed gull has been
returning to these around 3 p.m. each afternoon.
 
If the gull is not there, I would recommend looking up and down the
stretch of Niagara River Road from the falls to Dufferin Island for the
best sign of a slaty-backed gull:  lots of people with scopes and
tripods.  That's how I found the bird.
 
For descriptions of the bird and other possible locations, you should
see the Genesee-birds listserv.  I will note a few distinctive
characteristics that separate the bird from the other gulls around.
(You will need a scope, of course.)  First, it is in almost adult
plumage, so the mantle is complete and darker than anything out there
other than a great black-backed gull.  It does not have the great
black-backed's massive look and is about the same size as the
surrounding herring gulls.  The bill is very noticeable as it has an
almost complete black ring and (I think) the beginnings of a red
gonydeal spot, but the culmen (the upper ridge of the bill) is yellow
all the way to the tip, interrupting the black ring - a very noticeable
and odd pattern when the bird is looking face-on.  There are small dark
smudges before and behind the eye which give it a somewhat stern
expression.  Also, there are blotchy spots on the breast and belly.  If
the bird stands on a rock you will see its legs are pinkish rather than
yellow.
 
Although my impression is that sightings (or at least identifications)
of slaty-backed gulls are slightly on the rise, this is still a fairly
extreme rarity for the Northeast - this bird is only the second sighted
at Niagara Falls that I know of, and the first was fourteen years ago.
If you go for the bird, good luck.  I will be happy to field questions
by private e-mail if I haven't addressed something here.
 
Chris Spagnoli
Lakewood

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