Technically speaking, a lot of the migratory birds we see around Buffalo all winter are neotropical migrants. What most of us are really interested in are the passerines, and in particular: the Warblers. The terribly cold weather has been really holding them off, and I can't tell you what fun it is to have some finally start to show up. That feeling of excitement that electrifies your inner being every time you see a new bird, or a peripheral flitter of movement that could be just about anything is finally back. I took a quick break from my work to meet up with my friend, Kevin Rybczynski at Forest Lawn Cemetery today, and we finally saw a few new things. We rustled up a fantastic Black-and-white Warbler, a Yellow-rumped Warbler that was too quick for a picture, and a Black-throated Green Warbler found by Karen Vizzi that has been hanging around for a few days. Just awesome. I called my other good friend, Alec Humann to let him know the good news, but the Warbler's presence is obviously like some sort of Bat signal over Gotham City, because I turned around and there he was. With our bird-finding superhero trio complete, we got down to it. We also met up with one of the Buffalo State College's Ornithology students, Ryan Walter, and enjoyed the Warblers together for quite a while. We eventually broke off and I took a walk with Ryan and an awesome guy that works at Forest Lawn around Warbler ridge, and found a White-throated Sparrow, numerous Hermit Thrush, a pair of Winter Wren, and a beautiful Brown Thrasher. I could't grab any pictures of those birds, but it's always fun simply birding. The Brown Thrasher put on quite a vocal performance for us, and we got a chance to talk about and witness the way that they will repeat phrases twice in their song, versus the possibly more talented mimic, the Northern Mockingbird, who will usually repeat phrases up to three times during their song. Well anyways... here are some pictures.
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Rick BacherI like murderous birds and the things they kill. Archives
August 2015
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