On Sunday, August 28th, eight well seasoned BOS birders met at 7:00 am at the Vermont and Busti staging area for the annual Buffalo Ornithological Society August Field Trip for Shorebirds and Early Warblers. After crossing the Peace Bridge, our more than competent leader, Doug Happ led us to Jager Rocks at the source of the Niagara River in Fort Erie. Although Hurricane Irene did not blow in any jagers, we did see an Osprey, a Great Black-back Gull, an American Black Duck, and eight Caspian Terns. Going west on Highway 3 from Fort Erie we turned south on Golf Course Road to Morgan’s Point. Doug found us three Sanderlings along the shoreline of Lake Erie. In the bushes we found Black-and white Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Yellow Warbler, and Canada Warbler. Proceeding westward along the lake we reached Rock Point Provincial Park. There we enjoyed studying five Semipalmated Plovers, about 15 Semipalmated Sandpipers, three Least Sandpipers, a Western Sandpiper, and a White-rumped Sandpiper until a Peregrine Falcon swooped over the shoreline chasing every single shorebird and a Double-crested Cormorant, for good measure. On Mohawk Island we could see about 400 fastidious Double-crested Cormorants and a cloud of at least 2,000 Common Terns. There were two good pockets of warbler in the vegetation seeking shelter from the strong north winds and were able to observe Palm Warbler, three Blackburnian Warblers, three American Redstarts, three Black-throated Green Warblers, two Cape May Warblers, Bay-breasted Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, two Nashville Warbler, two Chestnut-sided Warblers, Pine Warbler, and Magnolia Warbler. We also encountered four Red-eyed Vireos, Philadelphia Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Carolina Wren, and an Olive-sided Flycatcher. Doug then guided us two kilometers north to the Mosaic ponds and showed us Hooded Merganser, four Green-winged Teal, Greater Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Plovers, and seven unmarked Great Egrets. Traveling were seven kilometers on Canal Bank Road we turned north for a kilometer on Hutchinson Road to Poth Road where we 57 Killdeer, nine Black-bellied Plovers, and the Whimbrel. For the day we tallied 72 species including eleven shorebird species and fifteen warbler species. I hope some non-member birders join us next year. Best Wishes for Great Birding Bill Watson Buffalo Ornithological Society member and Field Trip Chairman our field trips can be found at : _http://www.buffaloornithologicalsociety.org/calendar-of-trips-meetings-and-events_ (http://www.buffaloornithologicalsociety.org/calendar-of-trips-meetings-and-events) --
NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --