A Cooper's Hawk was at the edge of the retention pond along Green Pond Road picking apart some unlucky bird.
As I got to the area where the Vesper was found, a shower came through. I couldn't find it, so it had either moved on or was sitting tight because of the weather. A Great Egret with full breeding plumes was perched along the edge of Green Pond.
Two Belted Kingfishers and a Great Blue Heron in nice plumage were also at the pond.
Eight Green-winged Teal were in the retention pond along Farmersville Road. Along the gravel path along the edge of the golf course, I found 9 Palm Warblers.
I left there and drove up to East Bangor Dam. The rain had stopped, but it was still heavily overcast when I started walking along the railroad tracks. A Swamp Sparrow and a Black-capped Chickadee were singing. I saw the Swamp Sparrow in the cattails and then noticed the chickadee sticking its head in a nest hole and throwing out wood chips with its bill.
Soon after that, I heard a Virginia Rail calling. It was really close. I followed the occasional movement of the cattails for about ten minutes and was lucky to get a photo of it when it moved through a small open area.
A pair of Ospreys circled overhead, one of them with a fish in its talons.
On the north side of the marsh were three Great Egrets.
I ended up with 33 species that included 46 American Black Ducks, 15 Ring-necked Ducks, 9 Green-winged Teal, 8 Wood Ducks, 4 Gadwall, 2 Buffleheads, 6 Double-crested Cormorants, a Great Blue Heron, an immature Bald Eagle, an Eastern Phoebe, a Common Raven, and a Palm Warbler.
At nearby Minsi Lake, I saw a Snow Goose, 19 Buffleheads, 13 Lesser Scaup, 4 Green-winged Teal, 4 Ring-necked Ducks, a Hooded Merganser, 5 American Coots, 4 Pied-billed Grebes, 11 Double-crested Cormorants, an Osprey, two adult Bald Eagles, and well over 100 Tree Swallows.
My last stop was the Martins Creek Environmental Preserve. At the fenced-in pond were 49 Green-winged Teal, 44 Buffleheads, 5 Ring-necked Ducks, 3 Lesser Scaup, 2 Northern Shovelers, 2 Common Mergansers, an American Coot plus the continuing 3 Snow Geese and single Mute Swan. Nearby were 3 Killdeer and 2 American Kestrels.
On the way home along the Martins Creek-Belvidere Highway, a large group of gulls were spread out over a big field with recently-spread manure. I counted 28 Lesser Black-backed Gulls among 166 Ring-billeds.
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