April 22, 2007: Iroquois Nat'l Wildlife Refuge (WNY) (2 PHOTOS)

We had a little time in the morning, so we headed out to Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge for a hike. Iroquois is located between Buffalo and Rochester, in Northwestern Genesee County.

Our hike consisted of a walk around Kumpf Marsh (also known as the Feeder Road) (INWR Trail and Overlook Guide). It was a nice warm morning for April, so this was a enjoyable walk. Since my good lens is being repaired, I don't have many shots from today! We did however see GREEN-WINGED TEAL, NORTHERN SHOVELER, MALLARD, AMERICAN COOT, WILSON'S SNIPE, YELLOWLEGS, BONAPARTE'S GULL, RING-BILLED GULL, CASPIAN TERN, SWAMP SPARROW, SAVANNAH SPARROW, and TREE and BARN SWALLOWS.

We also took a quick walk through the nearby Kanyoo loop trail, through the woods. More signs of spring, in the form of Trillium and other Flowers. We had several BROWN CREEPERS in the woods, and also a HERMIT THRUSH, but it was mostly quiet.

Before leaving, we took a quick look at the main Cayuga Overlook, where we saw the BALD EAGLE, GREAT BLUE HERON (many), AMERICAN COOT, RING-NECKED DUCK, BUFFLEHEAD, SHOVELERS, RUDDY DUCKS, and TREE SWALLOWS.

INTERACTIVE MAP OF IROQUOIS NWR LOCATIONS MENTIONED (LOCAL.LIVE.COM)

General location map of INWR:

April 21, 2007: Braddock Bay Visit (Greece, NY) (9 BIRD/ANIMAL PHOTOS)

Today was a beautiful morning, so we decided to pay another visit to Braddock Bay, in Greece, NY. We visited the songbird banding station run by the Braddock Bay Bird Observatory, the raptor banding station run by Braddock Bay Raptor Research, and also birded in the nearby Owl Woods.

At the songbird banding (Braddock Bay Bird Observatory website), there was quite a bit of activity. We saw a good variety of early Spring migrants banded, including FOX SPARROW, SONG SPARROW (local bird?), BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE (local bird?), many GOLDEN CROWNED KINGLET, one RUBY CROWNED KINGLET, and BROWN CREEPER.

Our next stop was to the nearby Raptor Banding Station (Braddock Bay Raptor Research website). I had been unsuccessful on each previous visit to this station, but today we did better. Conditions still were not ideal, but we did see four immature COOPER'S HAWKS captured and banded, which was really cool! Lots of flyover COOPERS and SHARP SHINNED HAWKS, RED-TAILED HAWKS, RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS, and AMERICAN KESTRELS, and one ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, and one OSPREY. Lots of TURKEY VULTURE flyovers too, of course.

Before leaving, we took a quick walk in the Owl Woods. Because my lens is in the shop, I don't have any photos, though we saw lots of NORTHERN FLICKERS, MANY GOLDEN CROWNED KINGLETS, quite a few FOX SPARROWS, and I thought I heard a WINTER WREN. We also saw a LEPOARD FROG.

BBBO Songbird Photos:

Song SparrowFox SparrowBrown Creeper
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

Golden-Crowned Kinglet

BBRR Raptor Banding Photos: (Immature Cooper's Hawk)

Lepoard Frog found on the Owl Woods Trail

INTERACTIVE MAP LINKS TO BRADDOCK LOCATIONS MENTIONED

Braddock Bay General Location:

April 15, 2007: Buffalo Ornithological Society Bird Count (Erie County, NY) (2 BIRD PHOTOS)

This morning I participated in the annual Buffalo Ornithological Society (BOS) April Bird Count. My assignement was to count birds in the Alden area. The weather was miserable with falling moderate slow and sleet, and a stiff wind, with temperatures in the mid 30's! Not very conducive for bird counters, or birds. I only managed two photos, shown below.

I snapped this Golden-Crowned Kinglet trying to hide on the side of Cary Rd. in Alden

Some waterfowl were on the Billo Road ponds, including Common Loons, Bufflehead, Mergansers, Ring-Necked Ducks, and this Common Goldeneye

My results: (* - April BOS count first time for me)

COMMON GRACKLE 285
EUROPEAN STARLING 120
RED WINGED BLACKBIRD 82
AMERICAN ROBIN 75
MOURNING DOVE 48
AMERICAN CROW 25
CANADA GOOSE 18
DARK EYED JUNCO 16
RING-NECKED DUCK (*) 13
RING BILLED GULL 12
BLACK CAPPED CHICKADEE 9
DOWNY WOODPECKER 7
NORTHERN CARDINAL 7
SONG SPARROW 7
KILLDEER 7
BROWN CREEPER 6
BLUE JAY 6
AM. TREE SPARROW 6
MALLARD 5
TURKEY VULTURE 5
CHIPPING SPARROW 5
NORTHERN FLICKER 4
HOUSE FINCH 4
EASTERN BLUEBIRD 3
RED TAILED HAWK 3
COMMON LOON (*) 2
RED BELLIED WOODPECKER 2
GOLDEN CROWNED KINGLET 2
COOPERS HAWK 2
WHITE BREASTED NUTHATCH 2
HORNED LARK 1
EASTERN PHOEBE 1
BUFFLEHEAD 1
COMMON GOLDENEYE (*) 1

April 14, 2007: Braddock Bay Owl Woods (Greece, NY) (1 BIRD PHOTO)

This morning, we took a trip to the Braddock Bay Owl Woods, for some owling, and to check out the Raptor Banding Program. It was a slow day, sunny, but very cold! We only found two owls, two Long-Eared Owls. One of them is featured below as our only photo today.

Not very good luck at the Raptor Banding Station either, with North winds off the late, very few raptors were flying over.

Afterwards we enjoyed our traditional post-Braddock lunch at Schaller's in Greece!

INTERACTIVE MAP OF BRADDOCK BAY OWL WOODS LOCATION

April 7, 2007: Erie County Botanical Gardens, Western NY Birding (15 PHOTOS, 7 BIRD)

This morning, we took a trip to the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens. It was nice to see the blooms and experience the warmth of the greenhouses. It made us (briefly) forget about the winter-like April we have been having so far! (Yesterday and today it was only in the 20's with on and off snow the whole time, and a few inches on the ground) Below are some photos from that visit. Below that are some birdwatching photos from today.

Afterwards, we birded some open water along Route 5 on the lakeshore in Buffalo and Lackawanna. (There were a few channels and inlets where the ice had melted from the warm spell in late March). There were many gulls of course, RING-BILLED but also BONAPARTE'S GULLS, some in summer plumage. Also lots of SCAUP, and RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS.

Bonaparte's Gulls (above and below)
Killdeer
Red-Breasted Mergansers
Lesser Scaup

Up in Niagara Falls, we found two HERMIT THRUSHES foraging in the open, along with the many AMERICAN ROBINS everywhere, all apparently stressed by the cold snap and snow. Lots of KILLDEER as well.

This Hermit Thrush was sorry he came north so early!

Back home, we had lots of feeder activity, PURPLE and HOUSE FINCH, AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES (turning yellow for spring!), RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS, EUROPEAN STARLINGS, BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS, MOURNING DOVES, BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES, AMERICAN CROWS, BLUE JAYS, BROWN CREEPER, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, DOWNY, HAIRY, and RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS, DARK-EYED JUNCOES, TREE and CHIPPING SPARROWS, and a rare visitor, a FIELD SPARROW.Field Sparrow at the feeder