Chirps and Cheeps

A Photo Journal of My Birding Adventures & Observations

My birding blog site


  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!

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Purple Sandpiper

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Purple Sandpiper

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Purple Sandpiper

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Purple Sandpiper

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Purple Sandpiper

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Purple Sandpiper

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Spotted Sandpiper

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Bald Eagle

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Black-throated Blue Warbler

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Yellow Warbler

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Pine Warbler

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Pine Warbler

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Baltimore Oriole

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Eastern Towhee - a poor shot, but I think it's the only time I ever caught a female on camera!

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Sora - the first photos that I've been able to get of this elusive bird

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Sora

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Virginia Rail

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Common Gallinule



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