Upper Mount Bethel Birding ~ April 9, 2024

I headed up to Lake Minsi in the late afternoon to do some late day birding. The most interesting thing there was an Osprey that dove into the lake and successfully caught a fish.

Over at Echo Lake, there were 28 Ring-necked Ducks, a Ruddy Duck, 3 Pied-billed Grebes, and 5 Tree Swallows. I also saw the pair of Red-shouldered Hawks and got photos of one next to the nest.

Red-shouldered Hawk

A Red-shouldered Hawk next to its nest.

I visited East Bangor Dam about an hour before sunset. I saw 22 Double-crested Cormorants, 20 Ring-necked Ducks, 11 Wood Ducks, 6 Mute Swans, a Pied-billed Grebe, a Great Blue Heron, 4 Tree Swallows, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 2 Brown Thrashers, and a Swamp Sparrow. At sunset, two Virginia Rails began calling. Although one of them was only about 8-10 feet away, it was almost impossible to see in the vegetation. I would occasionally catch glimpses of it moving through small open patches and was only able to get one blurred, mostly hidden photo of it.

A blurry photo of a mostly hidden Virginia Rail. You can see parts of the bird's orange bill, grayish face, and vertical stripes on its flanks.

After dark, I heard the eerie calls of at least one Barred Owl along Institute Drive.

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