Chirps and Cheeps

There was a nice, little pocket of warblers this morning and it bustled with activity as Doug Happ and I walked through Tifft Nature Preserve. In this active group, we saw a few Magnolias, a Tennessee, Black-throated Blue, at least 4 American Redstarts (a couple of young plus 2 adults), a Black and White, and a Common Redpoll.  Since we missed the large group Sal had last night at Amherst State Park, we felt slightly compensated!

Another exciting bird this morning was a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.  I haven't seen one of these since the end of May at Point Gratiot in Dunkirk. This little guy gave us a brief, but excellent view as he perched on the path right in front of us for a few seconds - long enough for me to capture a couple of decent photos of him.

A walk out by the marsh gave me my best visual of a Least Bittern I've had to date. He was walking through the reeds and went by a little clear spot. Wow, that was great, but unfortunately, there wasn't enough time for a photo.

Other birds seen this morning were: 4 Great Blue Herons, 8 Green Herons, 2 Black-crowned Night Herons, 5 Great Egrets, 19 Wood Ducks, 2 Blue-winged Teals, 10 Double-crested Cormorants, 5 Common Gallinules, 3 Belted Kingfishers, an Eastern Phoebe, 6 Wild Turkeys, a Cooper's Hawk, and 2 Northern Rough-winged Swallows.