In our trips to East Aurora, I have been looking for some birding spots we could check out, and after a little research, I came upon Sinking Ponds Wildlife Sanctuary. We located it Saturday, tucked away, almost out of sight, behind some village buildings. As soon as we drove in, we could see the geese with goslings, mallards, and wood ducks, swimming to shore to check out the human visitors. Parents of young children were there, throwing cracked corn into the grass. The mallards would venture forth.
The Canada geese with their babies were more wary.
The male wood duck came ashore, thought better of it, and returned to his mate in the water.
We found the path that rounds the pond, and set off with our birding checklist. Saturday we went around the pond; Sunday we headed off on a different path. We saw our very first orchard oriole. First for the year, we saw baltimore orioles, and a rose-breasted grosbeak. All in all, we came away with a checklist of 23 species. It was a little treasure of a place, and it was nice seeing the young children come and sit on the ground with their parents to observe and appreciate the wildlife.