Chirps and Cheeps

Purple Sandpiper in Niagara Falls

Published: May 04, 2014
Tags: General Observations, Purple Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Yellow Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Sora, Virginia Rail, Common Gallinule, Bald Eagle, Baltimore Oriole

After looking through the gulls on Goat Island, I hiked the area looking for warblers. I found only a few - I think the winds were just too strong up by the falls and the birds with any common sense, were laying low.

After finding some Yellows, a couple of Pines, a Black-and-white, and a Yellow-rumped, I headed back towards the car. As I passed "the shelf", just a little below where a lot of the gulls were hanging out, I noticed a sandpiper - two sandpipers, actually: a Spotted and a Purple. The sun was right behind them but I still took a bunch of photos for ID purposes. This was my best view of a Purple to date...

A little earlier, I saw my first-of-year Baltimore Oriole and Black-throated Blue Warbler at Forest Lawn - and a little later, I saw my first-of-year Common Gallinule and Sora at Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. In spite of the high winds and by all accounts, the birds were still being seen!