A great find was reported the other day by photography hobbyist, Lee Langenfield. Lee likes to shoot photos of White-tailed Deer and, while out at Tifft Nature Preserve, he noticed an unusual bird: a White-eyed Vireo! This bird has generated a LOT of attention, drawing many birders and photogs to Tifft. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving treat and I was happy I had a couple of hours to spare to go see this great bird!
White-eyed Vireos are more secretive than the other vireos we regularly see in
WNY. They prefer lower, brushy habitat but will pop out in the open every now and then - a little more willingly than some of the other skulkers.
This species rarely comes north of the Pennsylvania border, so we don't see them here too often, especially this late in the season. This sighting is actually a record late date for the
BOS region. I've seen a few so far: one in Rochester, another on Long Island, and one in South Carolina - but this was my first for Erie County.
To date, this bird has been seen for three days now. Hopefully, he'll be back on track towards his southern migration destination soon.