Chirps and Cheeps

A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled on an online review about a park / preserve a few towns over in Cheektowaga, called Reinstein Woods.  The write-up said they've got something like 19 ponds in the preserve as well as many nature trails.  Last night, hubby was out taking his mom to the eye doctor, so I decided it was a good night for me to take a drive over to Reinstein Woods and check it out.

I don't think the ponds are getting enough water movement or care in this park as they were almost totally covered with lily pads, the water levels were pretty low, and there was a fairly strong stagnant / putrid smell near them. The Canada Geese and the herons didn't seem to mind - nor did the beavers I saw coming in and out of the ponds, though.

However, as far as birding goes, I was quite pleased. My first bird of interest was a cute little House Wren.  I got several nice photos of him before he decided to hop away into the brush.  After that, I was thrilled to see a male Indigo Bunting, which I haven't seen in a little over a year now!  I never got out my 2x teleconverter - so the couple of shots I did get of him were pretty far away.  But he was still a real treat for me. A Great Blue Heron did a fly-by on one pond - and I enjoyed many sightings of Cardinals, Gray Catbirds, a Baltimore Oriole, Eastern Kingbird, Green Heron, American Goldfinches, American Robins (so, so many of those!), Red-winged Blackbirds, Song Sparrows, several woodpeckers, I think a Wood Thrush, and probably a few more that I'm forgetting...  All in all, it was a very pleasant hike!