Sora and Common Gallinules at East Bangor Dam ~ April 19, 2024

I walked the boardwalk at Bear Swamp in the late morning. At the beginning of the boardwalk, I spotted a male Rusty Blackbird perched about four feet up. It dropped down just as I got my camera on it. I slowly walked up and noticed a female flipping over leaves in the swamp. I was waiting for them to get into an opening for photos when a lady and her dog came running down the boardwalk. Needless to say, that was the end of that. Other birds seen there included Pileated Woodpecker, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and Hermit Thrush.

At nearby Lake Minsi, there were 9 Ring-necked Ducks, 3 Pied-billed Grebes, a Horned Grebe, 7 Double-crested Cormorants, 2 Great Blue Herons, and 2 Barn Swallows among at least 300 Tree Swallows. I got two distant photos of the Horned Grebe before a boat made it fly off.

Horned Grebe

My last stop was East Bangor Dam. My main objective was to check for Marsh Wren but, instead, I heard a Sora call! I very slowly walked up and found it peeking out through the cattails.

Sora

After standing still for what seemed to be an eternity (probably only about 5 minutes), it finally walked through an open area before ducking back into the cattails.

Sora

Soon after it ducked back in, it called, and then I heard a Common Gallinule a little farther down! Again, I slowly crept in that direction. It would occasionally call just out of sight from the back side of another cattail patch. A while later, I spotted it moving away from the patch. I took a couple poor photos of it through the reeds.

Common Gallinule

Then it took off and flew over in the direction of the Sora. As it dropped into the vegetation, a second Common Gallinule took off from behind the same cattail patch and joined the first one.

Common Gallinule

Other notables from there included 5 Double-crested Cormorants, 3 Great Blue Herons, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, a Pileated Woodpecker, an assortment of Tree, Barn, and Northern Rough-winged Swallows, and a Mute Swan. It was a great end to the birding day.

Mute Swan

---