Young birds at Bennington Lake

The birds were all out singing at the lake on Tuesday morning after the weekend rains.  Some of the birds that live there all year were feeding young - black capped chickadees, downy woodpeckers, robins and flickers.  The two young great horned owls were sitting on a snag along the canal squawking for food.  We found young tree swallows - the first of the summer birds to bring off young.  A yellow-breasted chat was displaying and we found a western wood peewee on a nest.  It won't be long before there are young birds all around the lake. Some of the other birds we saw were Bullock's orioles, eastern kingbirds, gray catbirds, black-headed grosbeaks, yellow warblers and house wrens.   A Forster's tern was hunting over the lake and there were two ruddy ducks on the water.  Another good morning at Bennington Lake with 47 species recorded.  Ginger