Congratulations Alfred!

It is nice sharing it!

Luc

Congrats on your sighting. I grew up in Elma (Bullis Rd area) and I am not aware of any Bald Eagles nesting anywhere except at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge near Syracuse. It could just be a bird migrating through. Needless to say, I have never seen one in that area you saw in the years I lived in Elma. However, I haven't lived there in over 10 years, so birds could have moved into breed I guess. Good sighting regardless!

BN

Hey, guys! I am in WNY also, not far from your areas!

I am in southern-most Erie County at its border with Cattaraugus County, near Routes 62 & 39 Intersection.

I have been seeing more & more Bald Eagles fly over my rural property, for about the past 6 or 7 years.

I can tell you where to go to easily see nesting Bald Eagles, that is not terribly far from your area...

Go to Countryside Gravel (Gernatt Gravel), Lake Flavia, in South Dayton, NY. on Route 62.

Take Route 62 right thru Hamburg, Water Valley, Eden, North Collins, Collins, Gowanda, Dayton, South Dayton.

Lake Flavia is a reclaimed former gravel pit owned by Gernatt Gravel. The are was turned into a large pond/small lake, landscaped & managed area, stocked with fish, and birdwatching is allowed there along the shoreline.

On Route 62, go past Gernatt Gravel's current operation in South Dayton (you will see huge mounds of sand and lots of heavy equipment), until you come to public parking lot about 1/4 mile down the road on the left (there is a sign at the road) and you will see a horse & buggy hitching post for use by the Amish neighbors.

Just past the parking lot, you will see a large white barn and silo, also on the left.

In the parking lot you will see a sign posted with a few rules for use of the area.

From this parking lot, park about in the middle and look straight across the water.

You will see one large, modern style house that belongs to Gernatt's.

Look to the right along the treeline until you see a group of trees taht look lighter colored against a backdrop of darker trees.

About halfway between the house and lighter trees, look towards the tops of the trees until you see a dark spot near the top in one of the trees.

That is the Bald Eagle's nest.They have used this same nest for several years. And they are still at Countryside Gravel - Lake Flavia now (NOV 13). I was up there twice this week and saw both adult Bald Eagles both times.

This year the Eagle pair successfully fledged 2 young (of course, the younger Eagles will be all brown until about their 3rd year, when they get the Bald Eagles' white head and tail feathers that are so familiar to us.

Along the same treeline several yards further to the right, you will see a nesting platform built up into one of the trees.

This is a nesting platform constructed specifically for these nesting Bald Eagles. Gernatt Gravel would like to expand their current quarry area but the Dept of Fish & Wildlife will not let them move the current Eagle's nest.

So they are attempting to lure the Bale Eagles into choosing to use this new nesting platform built just for them, out of the way of their gravel operations.

It will be interesting to see how this all works out!

This has been an active week at Countryside Gravel - Lake Flavia...

A rarity was spotted there this week, a HUDSONIAN GODWIT, a shorebird, seen by several birders.

Just today, there was a possible sighting of a Ross's Goose there. And yesterday a sighting of a Red-throated Grebe and a lone Greater Yellowlegs was flushed out by a birder, another shorebird.

I was there myself on NOV 9, 10, and 12 and saw the following...

many Canada Geese, 14 blue phase Snow Geese (watched them fly in and land on the water), 2 adult Bald Eagles, American Coot, Ring-Necked ducks, Ruddy ducks, Common Loon, Greater Scaup, Common Mergansers, Hooded Mergansers, Pied-billed Grebe, Horned Grebe, Mallards, Redhead ducks, Bufflehead ducks, ass't Gulls.

This area is often windy & cold so dress appropriately and bring gloves & hat.

Also Red-tailed hawks, a Whitetail buck deer, Crows

Gail R (WNY)

I think this could be Lake Flavia :

just copy these numbers on Google Maps:

42 21 56n, 78 59 30w

http://maps.google.com/

Luc

and click on "hybrid".

Luc

Hi, Luc, you were very close with your placement of Lake Flavia.

Last time I went there, I had my Magellan Explorist XL GPS unit with me and marked it as a waypoint.

Sitting in my car in the parking lot, directly across the lake from the Bald Eagles nest, the co-ordinates are:

Lake Flavia, eagles nest:
42 21.697N
079 00.070W
elevation 1316 feet

For those familiar with this general area of WNY, here are some other areas you might want to visit for some birdwatching...

Sinking Ponds Sanctuary, East Aurora
42 46.697N
078 36.383W
Elevation 837 feet

Point Gratiot, Lake Erie, Dunkirk
42 29.882N
079 21.748W
Elevation 571 feet

Lakeshore Blvd, where you can lakewatch from your car
42 29.453N
079 19.715W
Elevation 578 feet

Deerlick Nature Sanctuary, Zoar Valley, Gowanda
42 23.074N
078 55.422W
Elevation 1358 feet

Winters Ponds, Langford
42 34.621N
079 19.715W
Elevation 1244 feet

Except for Deerlick Sanctuary which requires some hiking and is in more rugged terrain, these are all easily accessible spots where you can birdwatch from your car if you like, or walk gentle trails and drive thru parks.

They are also (except for Deerlick) appropriate places to take older or very young birdwatchers or those needing wheelchair or walker access.

Gail R (WNY)