Erieau Gulls

The weather was not all that great today, so I decided to sleep in, then head down to Erieau. The number of Bonaparte's Gulls there is incredible! They were all over the place--in the marina, boat harbour, channel, in the Bay, and out in the lake. I thought for sure I would find something unusual, but after about three hours of looking, that was not the case. There probably is something unusual or rare around, but with the number of gulls, it may be hard to find.

There may be about 7000 Bonaparte's around Erieau, but I really have no idea. I always tend to underestimate things. I did find one adult Little Gull, eventually. That was easy to pick out with its jet black underwings.

I even spent about half an hour at the end of the pier with the waves crashing in. It was still not close enough for the Bonaparte's that were way out in the lake. The bulk of them were out in the lake I think.

I did have a nice look at a Long-tailed duck while out there.

It is only two weeks away from the Christmas Bird Count, so we will likely have a large number of Bonaparte's again this year.

On the way home, I went up Fargo Road. There are a couple of nice spots along there for birds, and I came across a couple of small flocks of Common Redpolls. There is one spot I always think is good for a Hawk Owl. With the one that was reported at Port Weller yesterday, I had hopes!

All for now...