Hoot doesn't love owls? I know I do. You just can't beat seeing one of these beautiful nocturnal raptors out in the daylight. My friend Corey Holler stumbled upon this one being mobbed by American Crows yesterday, and gave me a call. Sometimes finding birds is all about having good friends. It was flying around Forest Lawn Cemetery trying to avoid the chorus of birds loudly alarming away its positions. That's as specific as I can get. In other news, Forest Lawn Cemetery remains the absolute best spot in and around Buffalo for Warblers right now. If you focus your search around the giant Willow Tree next to Mirror Lake you will not be disappointed. I hit Delaware Park with my good friends Alec Humann and Kevin Rybczynski before we went to Forest Lawn yesterday and found a Northern Waterthrush in the flooded woods between the soccer field and Hoyt Lake. We also had great looks at a Blue-headed Vireo. He was lit terribly for pictures, but I'll get some one day. Scored big on that Waterthrush though! After that, we checked Forest Lawn Cemetery and had a blast amongst the countless passerines there for about an hour. I finally got a few decent pictures of the Yellow-rumped Warbler with partial leucism that has been hanging around. Next stop was the Eternal Flame at Chestnut Ridge Park for Louisiana Waterthrush. Lifer. The bird was singing loudly on territory when we arrived. It was just a few minutes down the trail above the falls where the flame is. It was a bit more touchy than we anticipated, and flew off after only about a minute. Alec and I had brief looks at the bird. You'll want to look up instead of down if you go searching for it. It was signing from high perches in the conifers. Good luck! Now for a few pics:
3 Comments
Gerry Rising
5/4/2014 10:16:22 pm
Amazing photos, Rick. Such pictures change the very nature of birding: no longer are extensive verification reports the only basis for records.
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Kate
2/12/2017 10:00:12 am
Sadly, I found one of the Great Horned owls at Forest Lawn dead on Feb. 10th. It was laying under it's tree. I took it to the DEC for an autopsy and will get the results in a few weeks. I went back 2 days later and saw it's mate. I think it was the female that died.
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Kate
2/15/2017 07:18:42 am
Bill Talon...threatening people to stay out of a public cemetery is ridiculous. Forest Lawn is 270 aces and simply mentioning the place does not "out" the owls location. Until the autopsy results are made public, you should refrain from blaming birdwatchers for its death.
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Rick BacherI like murderous birds and the things they kill. Archives
August 2015
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