Chats Return to Bennington Lake

On our Tuesday morning walk this morning, we heard the unmistakable calls of a yellow-breasted chat along the north end of the canal.  After much searching we finally saw it!  Not a long look, but enough to get that first glimpse of the season.  Bullock's orioles and western kingbirds were  more cooperative, allowing us great looks.  There were eight young tree swallows sitting on a branch near one of our nest boxes on the south end of the lake.  It was cold and windy so there were not a lot of other swallows over the lake.  The only waterfowl we saw were a pair of mallards and four coots.  Raptors included an osprey, a red-tailed hawk, a northern harrier and an American kestrel.  One young great horned owl was snoozing in a cottonwood along the trail.  Yellow warblers and house wrens were busy singing and a calliope hummingbird perched on a dead tree.  There were probably 50 chipping sparrows flying around on the west side of the canal with a few white-crowned sparrows mixed in.  Another fun day of birding!