Niagara Falls
Watching Gulls at Niagara Falls
Cool update: I added a 5 min audio recording of Peter giving us gull neophytes a tutorial on the Thayer’s >>> Kumlien’s >>> Iceland Gull cline. Watching gulls. That’s what birders in the Great Lakes are wont to do in winter. And the place to do it, at least around here (globally speaking) is Niagara Falls. [...]
Chasing a Black-headed Needle In a Haystack (part 3)
This story continues from (part 1), (part 2) *** We stood on the banks of the Niagara River staring at a ginormous flock of seagulls. Thankfully, Brad is a patient and knowledgeable birder. Cross that with an obsessive desire to finally nail his NY nemesis, he needed all the eyes he could train on this flock. He [...]
Chasing a Black-headed Needle In a Haystack (part 2)
This story continues from Part 1 *** So you see, I had no choice but to leave my desk and travel on a very short bird chase to Niagara Falls from Rochester, NY. We’ll be back by 1 pm, he promised. We’ll just do a quick check of the river. It sounded fishy. But when ignorance works in [...]
Chasing A Black-headed Needle In A Haystack (part 1)
I’m always amazed by what lengths extreme birders will go to spot a rare or unusual bird; how much effort, time, gas, and money they expend, and how many responsibilities they’ll drop faster than a hot potato. The funniest part is what IMPROBABLE ODDS they’re willing to scale to spot a single rare bird, particularly [...]
