Kind of an uneventful windy morning of birding until my friend Sue sent out an alert that there were not one, but two rare birds in a nearby pond. I took me longer to put my shoes on, go down the elevator and start my car than it did to get there.
One bird -- the Common Gallinule (which I already saw in 2022) was lazily floating around the pond. It was an immature bird, so I had never seen one in that plumage and it is a photo upgrade. The other bird I have only heard -- never seen before.
Sue and I had a lovely albeit cold hour watching the pond when the Sora came strutting out of the reeds an several occasions. Not only did I get my first photo of a Sora -- but that birding session is why I bird. We got to commune with these birds for a long time. Sora's are notoriously stealthy -- this one was not. Each time it appeared, it walked around for several minutes before it went back in the reeds. I can't explain how happy that makes me -- I know I'm a weird birder and proud of it.
Then there are about 2000 Tree Swallows spinning about. What a day! It was magnificent and then more people showed up, who have birded a lot longer than me and they had never seen one in Rhode Island out in the open either. I love it when I see folks like that have a new bird experience -- once you have been doing this for a while those experiences are fewer and farther between. Your appreciation grows. Good birds & Good company -- what more can you ask for? I am grateful for Sue and that experience today.
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