Birds at Bennington Lake today

Finally, the spring birds are coming back.  Today we saw several new arrivals – Bullock's oriole, black-headed grosbeak, yellow warbler and orange-crowned warbler.  There were some interesting ducks on the water too – three red-necked grebes, a pair of ruddy ducks, 16 bufflehead and 10 coots.  Raptors included a Swainson's hawk, two ospreys, an American kestrel and two northern harriers.  The great horned owl chicks were in hole and there was a dead cottontail at the entrance.  An adult owl was heard hooting along the canal.  The water was above our shoes at Cayuse Falls, but it was a warm, sunny day so we didn't mind getting our feet wet.  Between the yellow warblers and the house wrens there was constant noise all along the trail.  We were surprised to see a Townsend's solitaire still present.  It seems a little late.  We had a total of 41 species today.  Ginger