Chirps and Cheeps

Forest Lawn is a beautiful place to bird in the spring. The flowering trees were in full bloom today and singing warblers abounded. There were many birders out enjoying the day, the sunshine, and the many migrants that are moving through Western New York right now.  I'm pretty sure I recognized a few faces from the Owl Prowl back in February.

We saw at least 4 Baltimore Orioles today as well as several Warbling Vireos, many Yellow Warblers and many Yellow-rumped Warblers. FOY warblers were: Black-throated Green, Black and White, Magnolia, and Nashville.  I also saw my FOY Wood Thrush and I picked up a lifer, the Chimney Swift.  Although I saw several, I think I'm going to find it difficult to tell a Chimney Swift from a swallow for awhile yet. Doug H says it resembles a cigar with wings; that will be hard to forget!  And there's a rapid beat to its wings that a swallow doesn't have either. Even with those 2 tips, it was still a challenge by the end of the day.

While we were walking along the bottom of the ridge, a Cooper's Hawk across the creek gave us some nice views. We also saw a couple of Eastern Phoebes and White-throated Sparrows too. And it was great to see another Least Flycatcher, my lifer from yesterday - AND to see the gorgeous Baltimore Orioles once again.  I think my favorite part of the day, though, was learning the songs of the Warbling Vireo, the Black-throated Green Warbler, and the Black and White Warbler.