Buffalo Ornithological Society
Birding Western New York and the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario

Greater White-fronted Goose - © Sue Barth

Buffalo Museum of Science

Meet at 7 pm in the Cummings Room at the Buffalo Museum of Science.

Schuyler Lawson: "How can decades of citizen science better inform local conservation? Join Schuyler Lawson as he demonstrates how Microsoft Power BI can transform raw Christmas Bird Count data (2000–2024) into dynamic, interactive visualizations. This session will showcase how modern data tools reveal hidden trends in our local avian populations and explore a new initiative to digitize and preserve the full historical record of BOS counts. Come discover how your contributions to the field can be leveraged to strengthen our conservation efforts and boost member engagement."

Throughout the BOS Study Area

Sunday, April 12, 2026

All BOS members will hopefully plan to participate. Please help us add to the decades of records that the BOS has collected reflecting population dynamics of the area birdlife. You can be part of a field team or simply count birds at your backyard feeder. All observations are important! If you don't know what section you live in, please contact Joel Strong ([email protected] ) who will put you into contact with the correct section compiler.

Please visit the April Count information page on the website at the address below. Thank you so much!

More About the April Count: Click here »

Photo of a Bald Eagle being mobbed by a Bonaparte’s Gull taken by Brad Reinhardt at Morgan’s Point, Port Colborne on 4/30/2025.

5 Treadeasy Ave., Batavia, NY 14020

Sunday, April 19th

Leaders: Julia Garver
(716) 474-1366
email: [email protected]
and Sarah Balduf
(585) 356-2432
email: [email protected]

Meet at the operations center at 830 AM (this is the building you will see in front of you as you drive in through the chain link fence/gate). The facility is located at the end of Industrial Blvd, which is off Pearl St. (Rte 33) at the western edge of the city of Batavia.

Julia and Sarah will lead our group through the famous wastewater treatment plant. This complex of man-made ponds and marshes is a verifiable birding hotspot and has attracted such gems as Northern Wheatear, Harlequin Duck, Piping Plover, Neotropic Cormorant and American Avocet.
While the fall months host most birders at this regional hotspot, the spring migration months are definitely under-birded here. The Purple Martin houses should be filling up with adults returning from wintering grounds in the Amazon. The various settling ponds will likely be playing host to a variety of waterfowl, possibly including Common Loon and Horned Grebe.
If you own a spotting scope, this would be a great location to put it to good use! This will be a 1/2 day trip. Bathrooms are available in the administration building.

Photo of a Tree Swallow on April 27, 2025 by Andrea Heine at the Batavia WWTP.

3395 US-20, Seneca Falls, NY 13148

Leaders are David and Debbie Suggs; (716) 861- 8948 [email protected]. Meet at 8:30 am at the Visitor’s Center. Travel time via the thruway from Buffalo to the refuge is two hours.

The Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge complex is a massive wetland that occupies 15 square miles at the north end of Cayuga Lake. Please join BOS members, David and Debbie Suggs, as we explore this unique hotspot and work on building your Seneca County life list.

This vast area is a critical stopover site for many migrants and at this time of year, we will be looking for various waterfowl, including rarities like Eurasian Wigeon and Ross's Goose, and early arriving shorebirds such as Pectoral Sandpipers and Dunlin.

Most of this trip will take place along the Wildlife Drive with frequent stops to scan flocks of ducks. Bring your scope if you have one! Marsh Wrens should be singing from the cattails as Black Terns bound across the open waterways in search of insects and minnows. After completing the Wildlife Drive, there are a dozen more hotspots in the complex.

If any rarities have been found recently, we will try for those as well. With 267 species recorded along the drivable berm alone, something stand-out is bound to await us! Bring a lunch/snacks and beverages for a full day of birding. Bathrooms are available at the visitor center.

Sandhill Crane photographed by David Kennedy along Wildlife Drive 4/24/2024.

1600 Riverside Road, Jamestown, NY 14701

Leaders: Devin Banning (716) 260-8889
[email protected]
Katelyn Davis (716) 216-3881

Meet at 8:00am in the main parking lot for the Audubon Community Nature Center. See Google Maps link above.

Please join Devin, Katelyn and members of the Chautauqua-Warren Birding Association for spring migrants on a 1/2 day trip on the trails at the Audubon Community Nature Center, Jamestown, NY. We all are familiar with the magic of May when so many possibilities exist! The south shore of Lake Erie can pile up birds as they arrive from tropical wintering grounds, especially if inclement weather is involved. The 2024 trip turned up a Snowy Egret!

Here is the checklist link from last year’s outing…
https://eBird.org/checklist/S232579797

Photo of a Sora by Nathan Stimson at ACNC on May 24, 2024.

Brooks Pavilion (Main Pavilion), Point Gratiot Park

Leader: Devin Banning (716) 260-8889
[email protected]
Katelyn Davis (716) 216-3881

Meet at 8am at the Brooks Pavilion at Point Gratiot Park. See map link above for exact location. The Brooks Pavilion is the main pavilion inside the park.

Join Devin Banning and Katelyn Davis for a walk through Point Gratiot Park in Dunkirk. The Point serves as a migrant trap and funnels northbound birds into the DEC woodlot, the crown jewel of the park, which offers superb habitat for migratory songbirds. The sandy and rocky shoreline can host migrant shorebirds.
We should see the local Bald Eagles that frequent the lakeshore and we might catch a glimpse of the Peregrine Falcons that nest on the old NRG power plant. The resident Red-headed Woodpeckers are always a treat to see and the Purple Martin houses will be very active. Point Gratiot has hosted some fantastic rarities over the years including Harris’s Sparrow, Worm-eating and Kentucky Warblers, and Summer Tanager.
Birding destinations targeted after we wrap up at Pt. Gratiot will be determined based upon weather and migration patterns on the days leading up to our trip. A stop at the Dunkirk Airport should add a few grassland species to our day’s list including Eastern Meadowlark, Bobolink, American Kestrel and locally-nesting Grasshopper Sparrow.

Last year’s eBird Trip Report:
https://eBird.org/tripreport/365780?view=checklists

Photo of a Northern Parula taken by Nathan Stimson at Point Gratiot on May 18, 2025.

6773 Trailside Road, Castile, NY 14427

Leader - Matt Nusstein ([email protected]; (716) 446-3376)

Location - Meet at 8am at the Humphrey Nature Center, 6773 Trailside Road, Castile, NY 14427 (see map link above).

Scenic Letchworth State Park, embracing the Genesee River, boasts incredible numbers of migratory birds in May and June. In addition, more than twenty species of warblers nest in the park annually making for an exciting birding destination. This list includes the local Louisiana Waterthrush as well as gems like Hooded, Blue-winged and Mourning Warblers. Acadian Flycatcher is another local species we hope to cross paths with during our outing. We will be birding along the gorge making various stops with short hikes as we go. The trip could last 5-6 hours and we will have lunch overlooking the river. Carpooling is suggested. Bring a lunch, snacks and beverages.

Photo of a Louisiana Waterthrush taken by Brad Carlson on May 14, 2020 at Letchworth SP.

Buffalo Museum of Science

Meet at 7 pm in the Cummings Room at the Buffalo Museum of Science.

Meeting topic to be added.

Tifft Nature Preserve, 1200 Fuhrmann Boulevard, Buffalo, NY 14203

Meet at 7:30am on the bridge just past the Visitor Center.

Leader: Seaghan Coleman (716-435-7753 or [email protected])

This trip will focus on newly arrived neotropical migrants as well as lingering waterfowl and sparrows. Tifft holds the distinctive honor of having the highest number of species recorded on premises in our region - 270! The list of highlights is long and includes Kentucky, Connecticut and Yellow-throated Warblers, Summer Tanager, Sedge Wren, Barn Owl, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron and so much more.

We will hike the trails in search of early-arriving warblers, thrushes and other long-distance migrants as well as look over the marsh for rails and bitterns. If we are lucky, we may see late migrant raptors.

This will be an easy walk over level ground and boardwalks, possibly muddy trails. The trip will span the morning hours so make sure to bring snacks and something to drink. Remember that the south end of Tifft is plagued by red ants, the biting kind, so wear appropriate footwear.

This photo of a Bay-breasted Warbler was taken by Don Dixon at Tifft NP on May 18, 2025.

Throughout the BOS Study Area

Sunday, May 17, 2026

All BOS members will hopefully participate in the 87th annual May Bird Count.

BOS members are encouraged to participate. Please help us add to the decades of records that the BOS has collected reflecting population dynamics of the area birdlife. You can be part of a field team or simply count birds at your backyard feeder. All observations are important! If you don't know what section you live in, please contact Bob DeLeon who will put you into contact with the correct section compiler. Please visit the May Count information page on the website at the address below. Thank you so much!

More about the May Count: more info »

Chestnut-sided Warbler photo taken at Canadaway Creek WMA, Chautauqua by Gale VerHague on May 25, 2019.