Nemesis No More

 

The term "nemesis bird" is a commonly used one in birding circles, however to non-birders (muggles if you will) it may sound quite strange. In Greek mythology the goddess Nemesis was the goddess of divine retribution and revenge. Neither good nor evil, she was a remorseless goddess who melted out punishment for evil deeds, undeserved good fortune, and hubris. The meaning of the word nemesis has shifted over time though, and now when you think of it the first thing to come to mind is likely not the Greek goddess, but the something along the lines of the Wikipedia definitions "something that a person cannot conquer or achieve" or "an opponent or enemy that is very difficult to defeat". A nemesis bird can mean something different to each birder you ask. For some it will be a species that they really want to see, but have never had the chance to (It may not even be a species found in their home province/state). For others it is a bird that they have tried to find repeatedly, but have missed it every time. 

I was introduced to nemesis during my first year of birding, back in the days when I could get life birds without much effort. I was out with my local birding club, when I happened to mention that I hadn't been able to find an Orange-crowned Warbler, despite constant searching. One of the birders remarked "Oh, I guess that's your nemesis bird then!". I saw my first ever Orange-crowned Warbler a few weeks after that, flitting around the branches of a large tree in my backyard of all places, but nemesis was far from done with me. The goddess can never really be defeated after all, as every time you see your nemesis bird there always seems to be another that takes its place. 

For me, it is always a bird I had tried multiple times for, the more time I have to spend looking for it, the more of a nemesis it is for me. Most birds fell after 2 or 3 chases... a Ruddy Turnstone at Port Dover, a Red-throated Loon at Point Clark.... However in 2019 it became clear that one bird trumped the rest. That bird was the Slaty-backed Gull, a dark mantled gull in the genus larus that inhabits the coastal regions from Russia to Japan and South Korea. 

In North America the gull is an expected species only in Alaska, however in recent years they have been detected annually around the Great Lakes. If this is because of an increase in active, gull obsessed birders (people who know how to identify them) or actually an increase in Slaty-backed Gull numbers is hard to say though. Either way, in the last 5 years there has been at least one (sometimes even 4 or more) each winter in Southern Ontario. As I mentioned in a previous post, I used to spend time in Brant County during the winter months, which put me in an ideal spot for chasing birds. When a Slaty-backed Gull showed up at the Brantford Dump in the winter of 2018, a mere twenty minutes from where I was staying, of course I had to go for it. I missed it on my first attempt, and then my second as well. In the end I tried five times that winter, on the one occasion missing it by seconds... I rolled up to Mohawk Lake and was informed by the birders present that it had been spooked by an eagle and had literally just taken off. I was bitter, and swore I would never return to the Brantford Dump for that dumb gull. Of course I did return though, when the following winter the Slaty-backed Gull was found again at the same spot. This time I missed it twice. I received a positive report, then raced over to discover I had missed it by ten minutes. I waited for two hours, then returned to my family's place in Paris only to see that the bird had just been reported again! If that wasn't bad enough I then missed it in Niagara during the winter of 2020... If that isn't a nemesis I don't know what is!

Now back to 2022, and the big year. Even since the start of January, a Slaty-backed Gull was being seen on the New York side of Niagara Falls, so close and yet so far. Local birders had looked for it on the Ontario side of the river (as did I when I had been at the falls), however the gull remained stubbornly in the USA. I was hoping it would cross over and be found in Ontario, thus becoming a countable species for my year list, however I reminded myself that this was a Slaty-backed Gull... so I kept my hopes in check. Then yesterday morning while out birding his local patch, Ryan Griffiths found a Slaty-backed Gull in the Welland Canal by Niagara. Maybe the same bird as the US one... maybe not... hard to say! Unfortunately I was tied up at home on the peninsula for the day, but I packed my things and set my alarm for 5:30am the following morning.

I left my place just after 6am today, driving straight to the Welland Canal.. with a quick stop en route to pick up Ezra in Hamilton. I was cautiously optimistic, however I was going in almost expecting to not find it to be honest. Ezra had been the previous day, but despite hours of searching was unable to refind it. We arrived on scene just befor 10 o'clock and discovered we were the only birders there. It was a chilly -15 C outside, but the light snow that had followed me the entire drive down was starting to clear up and the sun was coming out... definitely could have been worse. We immediately saw that there were several hundred gulls sitting in the canal, and after quickly setting up our scopes we started scanning through them. Not 10 seconds later Ezra said he had a suspicious gull in his scope, in fact it was one of the first birds that he had seen. Sure enough there was a dark mantled gull sitting on the ice with it head tucked into its wings. Views weren't great as it was rather far away, but it sure looked like a Slaty-backed. I jogged down the road to try and find a better vantage point, and when I set up my scope for a closer view it stood up and looked at me... Definitely a Slaty-backed Gull!! We watched it for over an hour, during which time it mainly just sat there... but once it did circle around with the gull flock when they were flushed and gave us a good view. Nemesis bird no more!!

- Slaty-backed Gull

Note the slaty grey mantle, streaky nape and mascara look around the eye, bubblegum pink legs and "string of pearls" on the primaries that set it apart from other gull species. A great addition for my big year, the gull was #128, and also my 10th "OBRC bird"... for those who know what that means.

While there I couldn't help testing out my new camera on some other birds...

- Northern Mockingbird

- American Robin

- Iceland Gull

The rest of the day was spent around the Niagara area, where I picked up yearbirds Surf Scoter and Lapland Longspur. Besides that it was fairly quiet though... but no complaints here : )
   

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