(This column was first published in the January 21, 2002 Buffalo News.)
It is reasonable to believe that unusual birds
occasionally occur on the Niagara Frontier during migration seasons, but
unexpected species often appear here in winter as well. Here are three rare
birds that may be found in this region now -- but in each case after a diligent
search.
The rarest of the three is the Townsend's solitaire
that has taken up temporary residence in the mixed woodlands of Bond Lake
County Park in the Town of Lewiston. The solitaire is an attractive pearl-gray
thrush, slightly smaller than a robin. It is easily separated from other gray
birds like the catbird and the mockingbird by its readily observed, white eye-ring.
This is a species that summers in the high Rocky
Mountain coniferous forests of the western United States, Canada and Mexico. In
winter it normally descends to wooded valleys and canyons of the same region.
But some individuals wander far and solitaires have appeared along the north
shore of Lake Ontario during several recent years. A group of us found one in
Presque Isle Provincial Park several years ago.
This Townsend's solitaire is, however, the first that
has ever been recorded on the Niagara Frontier. The bird is most often seen
feeding on rose hips and highbush cranberries along the path between East and
West Myers Ponds, but its appearance even there is sporadic. It took three long
searches of the park before Mike Galas and I finally found the bird. The
solitaire's favorite food is juniper berries, so any nearby homeowner with
juniper shrubbery should keep a lookout for it.
Quite unlike the well-named solitaire, a dozen
sandhill cranes are being seen regularly feeding in cornfields along Farel Road
just west of Fredonia. The big cranes are so evident that the only problem
locating them is finding the right field.
These too are western birds although a few summer as
far east as Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron. Small numbers are seen locally
each year during migration periods, but I am aware of none recorded here in
winter before this.
Sandhill cranes are often confused with great blue
herons. Seen through binoculars, however, the adult birds are easily
distinguished by their bright red crown. Also cranes in flight hold their necks
extended while herons usually crook their necks to hold their heads just before
their wings.
The last unusual visitor is a third western species,
the California gull. Its name to the contrary, this is a bird of the interior
plains west of the Rockies. It only spends its winters along the Pacific coast.
There is a statue of California gulls erected by the
Mormons in Salt Lake City. It honors these birds for coming to the rescue of
the early settlers by attacking a crop-destroying plague of locusts.
For several years a single bird of this species has
wintered in the Niagara Gorge between the Robert Moses and Sir Adam Beck power
projects. It provides still another problem for those who wish to observe it.
The difficulty this time is picking this bird out
from hundreds of other gulls in the gorge that differ from it very little. In
size this adult California gull is midway between ring-billed and herring
gulls. Its mantle (back and wing covers) is darker than those species. It also
has yellow legs like the ring-billed gull but red rather than black on the bill
like the herring gull.
Our local Chambers of Commerce should be delighted to
have birds like these visiting this region for they attract hundreds of birders
to the Niagara Frontier from all across the eastern United States and
Canada.-- Gerry Rising
Note: No sooner was this column submitted when another rare visitor arrived. A handsome male Harlequin Duck was found in the Niagara River by Mike Morgante near the Buffalo Yacht Club. It has been seen almost daily since January 19 by, it seems, every local birder but me. The best place to see it seems to be along the Bird Island Pier as it trades back and forth over this breakwall.