Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Willow Ptarmigan

American White Pelican

A vagrant American White Pelican on Chautauqua Lake in Chautauqua County, New York.

 

Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks

 

Juvenile Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

 A rare autumn vagrant found in Western New York!

Rufous Hummingbird

A vagrant juvenile female Rufous Hummingbird found her way to my feeders on the Chautauqua Ridge in western New York.  This hummingbird is native to Alaska and the Pacific northwest and spends the winter in Mexico and the deep south of the United States.

Sabine's Gull

A Sabine's Gull near the base of the American Falls at Niagara.  These arctic gulls breed in Alaska and Nunavut and head out to open tropical waters on the ocean for the winter.  It's always a thrill to see one of these striking gulls show up on the Great Lakes during migration.

Northern Wheatear

We had a very rare visitor in our backyard today in Forestville, New York (Town of Sheridan).  The Northern Wheatear breeds in the high Arctic and migrates to Africa for the winter season.  This beauty was apparently thrown off course by recent tropical storms in the Atlantic Ocean and made a pit stop to feast on grasshoppers right outside my kitchen window! I'm still in awe of how the bird found the birder late in the day on this magical autumnal equinox.

Vagrant Hummingbird

Most likely a Rufous Hummingbird seen passing through western New York.

Rufous Hummingbird

American Avocets

A trio of vagrant American Avocets showed up near the Dunkirk Harbor again today.  They have been spotted in the area several times since July 9th.  No one knows if they are the same birds, but it is possible.

Western Tanager

This Western Tanager recently showed up in Western New York State!  Maybe he took a wrong turn or was blown off course by storms in the midwest.  This beautiful vagrant is WAY out of its normal range by well over 1,000 miles.  At least he is eating well. In the photo below he is seen with suet on his beak from a backyard feeder in Irving, New York.