Swans Over Bennington

Shortly after the Tuesday Morning Walkers gathered at Bennington Lake this morning three tundra swans flew towards the lake.  They were followed by 13 more – all of them calling.  What a beautiful sight!  They circled the lake for about 10 minutes before they decided to fly further south, but they were close enough to hear the sound of their wings as they flew over.  Later they flew back over much higher and didn't stop to circle.  While walking through the "owl grove" we watched a young Cooper's hawk harassing two different great horned owls.  At one point it dove on the owl with its talons down, but the owl just gave it a quick look and kept on sleeping.  There were two Anna's hummingbirds at MerryLynn's feeder.  Other nice birds seen were several singing

Townsend's solitaires, a northern shrike, a sharp-shinned hawk and a pectoral sandpiper.  There was a nice variety of waterfowl on the lake, but nothing unusual.  We saw a total of 33 species.