This year is predicted to be a fantastic year for our region to see
irruptive winter finches. Due to food shortages, mainly pinecones,
these birds have already begun "invading" Western New York and many other
states in the US. Several observers have been reporting some amazing
flights of winter finches from the shore of Lake Ontario. The first
reports came out of Monroe County at Owl Woods at Braddock Bay and were
soon followed by impressive flock counts seen at Krull Park in Niagara
County.
Our fearless leader, Alec,
organized a group of us to go up to Krull Park, situated on Lake Ontario to hopefully see a morning flight of these finches. It was a great day, in spite of missing Evening Grosbeak and
White-winged Crossbill. By the end of our few hours there, our eBird
checklist tallied a whopping 115 Red
Crossbills, 165 Common Redpolls, and 58 Pine Siskins. And thanks to Brad Carlson, we even had a single Cave Swallow fly by, which, in my opinion, was the Bird of the Day! What fun! And though I more prefer a perched
bird to enjoy, those flyby finch flocks sure were exciting to see as they sped past us, giving us a small window into the enormity of this winter's finch flight. I have a feeling it will break many records.
A few days later, I was visited by a pair of Evening Grosbeaks at my home feeders. I had been out birding and, when I pulled into the driveway, a female was sitting on the seed tray. I stayed in the car and watched through the windshield as a male came in and joined her. Unfortunately, a Blue Jay swooped in and scared them off after only a few minutes of enjoying them - but not before I had gotten a few photos of the pair.
And today, a few days after the grosbeak visit, I caught up to some Common Redpolls foraging in a field at the Outer Harbor in Buffalo. Yesterday, Josh K found a Hoary Redpoll among this flock and I was very happy to learn that the flock stayed in the area and that the Hoary was still among them. I zipped up to see that life bird - even though it will probably be short-lived in that I believe they will be lumped one day in the near future! I wasn't quick enough to get photos of my new life bird as I was busy trying to help another birder find the redpolls and missed my chance. LOL! I should remember to catch a photo or two first - THEN help others! But then... maybe it's not supposed to go that way...
Other than that one group of about 17 or so redpolls feeding in that field, I've seen a several flocks but they've always been flyovers or flybys. I'm hoping for some visits at my feeders! I think we need some snow. Did I say that???