The Binocular Site
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Niagara Falls flows on the border separating the U.S. state of New York and the Canadian province of Ontario, emerging from the Niagara River.
The corridor stretches from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, and attracts over 100000 gulls as they migrate during November. Because of its current, the River prevents ice from forming, making the water accessible to birds when other water ways are frozen.
Also look for other gulls such as California, Franklin’s and Sabine’s, Ross’s, little, black-headed, ring-billed, California, herring, Thayer’s, Icelandic, and glaucous gulls. Here many species of swans, geese, and ducks spend their winter including wigeons, redheads, and canvasbacks. Look for mute, trumpeter, and tundra swans, hooded, common, and red-breasted mergansers.
Niagara also offers botanical gardens, the world’s largest free-flying aviary, and greenhouses, for your viewing pleasure. The attractions for visitors range broadly aside from natural recreation as well. Restaurants, hotels, water parks, and theater are very popular here, along with cruises, festivals, fishing, golf, and wineries.
Originally the falls were created by glacial movement, with a continental ice sheet slowly bulldozing through the area, forever changing river channels. When the ice melted away, the Niagara River flowed across the Niagara Escarpment, eventually cutting a gorge unevenly due to the differing rock bed. The results inspire our imaginations today. See the Niagara Falls website for more information.
The provincial bird of Ontario is the Common Loon and you can find a checklist for birding activities in Ontario here.
Photo credit to joesflickr, used with permission under the creative commons license.
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