While it was quiet on the visitor front at Reifel this afternoon, there were a couple of interesting birds around. There have been a couple of Sora this week frequenting the northwest marsh across from the tower.
Fortunately for us birders and photographers,
… they have been crossing in the open when moving between patches of reeds.
Sometimes passing right below the new viewing platform on the outside dyke.
At one point the two Sora even got into a bit of spat with each other. The Sora, like the Virginia Rail, are usually fairly secretive sticking to the reeds.
Speaking of Virginia Rail, there was also one of them in the area. Unfortunately it was not quite as cooperative as the Sora had been, but fun to see both at the same time.
In between takes on the Sora, I was also watching a mixed flock of Yellowlegs.
One thing I will try for in situations like this is to get both the Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs together for comparison purposes. On the topic comparisons,
… this mixed flock of Yellowlegs also had a couple of Wilson’s Phalarope.
So the northwest pond/marsh was the place to be this afternoon.