Chirps and Cheeps

We did a little lake watching up at Hamlin this morning for a couple of hours.  Nothing of interest came by, probably because the winds were too calm. They were blowing in the right direction but I don't think they were hard enough to cause any vagrants to come in.

Since we were there, Celeste, Pat Martin, Jennifer R., and I decided to pay the Lark Sparrow another visit.  Jim Adams and Dana Kalir had already stopped by the lake watch to say hi as they headed to see the lingering, celebrity sparrow.  We were all happy to find it still there and hanging with a small flock of American Tree Sparrows.  The Lark Sparrow gave us a few nice photo opportunities and Celeste and I were soon on our way to the Niagara River.

There wasn't much of anything happening on the river, except for the one, far out Snowy Owl at the north end of Donnelly's wall.  We scoped the owl and then enjoyed looking through the ducks and gulls at LaSalle Park.  After that, I continued on alone to see the Snowy Owl that had been reported at the small boat harbor.  I imagine both Snowys were two of the 6 or 7 owls that Jerry Anderson found on November 30th by the waterfront. He got some stellar photos early that morning and it sounded like an amazing scene to see so many Snowy Owls at one place!

This afternoon, I found the lone Snowy at the small boat harbor and it was amazingly tolerant of all the noise and commotion from the construction workers that were nearby. I sat in my car at a respectful distance, took a few photos, and watched him/her for about 15 minutes.  When I slowly drove away, it was preening in the afternoon sun.

Across the street at Tifft, I happened upon the young Red-tailed Hawk that's been photographed several times of late. The hawk had a picked-over kill that it was working on and I watched from my car as several other vehicles drove past it; I was amazed that the hawk never flushed.  It appeared to be much more concerned with its meal and wasn't about to leave it if it didn't have to.  I'm guessing he was very hungry.  By now, it was starting to get late and I needed to be on my way - so I decided to forgo the walk I had planned and just watched the Red-tailed for a little while longer. I grabbed a few photos from the car window and then left him to enjoy his rather sad looking leftovers.  I hope he fares well this winter.

When I got home, I found another Red-tailed Hawk perched on a utility pole just down the road from our house. And, at the back feeders, the Chipping Sparrow, who's been coming for a few days now, was there feeding once again. I think he missed the train to Texas and is now stuck here for the winter. Poor guy - if he can endure the cold, I'll make sure he's got plenty to eat!