Driving by the Outer Harbor of Buffalo on Saturday morning shortly after sunrise, I could not resist. The ice between shore and the break wall was already mostly melted but there were a lot of large chunks floating around. It seemed like the perfect goodbye from winter. The bright white cold icy islands also contrasted nicely with the warm glow of the rising sun.

The Bell Slip is on the Buffalo's Waterfront's Outer Harbor and on the newly created Greenway Nature Trail snaking alongside the shoreline of Lake Erie. The shallow waters of the Bell Slip are to support shallow-water fish spawning and to act as a nursery. One of the fish it provides an active habitat for is muskellunge. As a secondary effect, the fish population attracts a variety of birds: geese, ducks, seagulls, loons, and others.

The Bell Slip and surrounding waterfront are designated as Niagara River Important Bird Area in recognition of its dense seagull population. There are 19 recorded gull species with one-day counts of over 100,000 within the area.