Rogers Center, Chenango Co., NY

Alison and I decided to take off and enjoy the beautiful autumn afternoon here in central New York, and headed to the Rogers Center, a marshy tract of woodland and trails just south of here in Chenango County. There wasn’t much around, but we enjoyed watching some birds that I at least don’t get to see all that often.

Every heavy-laden clump of Virginia creeper sheltered a gobbling Gray Catbird, and American Robins and small numbers of Purple Finches were high in the trees. Black-capped Chickadees and a few White-throated Sparrows darted about in the brushy bits, many of which look good for “frosty morning” migrants such as Orange-crowned and Connecticut Warblers over the next couple of weeks. Even the Canada Geese and American Crows tug at the heartstrings: those just aren’t species I run into that often in southeast Arizona!

On our way out, Alison noticed an odd sight on the paved path.

Aha! It was just moments later that we spotted the culprit turning tight circles just above the treetops. An Osprey’s life isn’t always easy on migration!