#355: Virginia Rail at the Bangor City Forest
This morning before the conference workshops started, I followed a tip out to the Bangor City Forest. (No, that’s not a typo. Most cities have city parks; but in Maine, or at least Bangor, they have City Forests instead.) This seems to be a forestry research area situated around a landfill so there’s habiat for both forest birds and grassland birds. I only had about an hour to spend there, but it was productive. As soon as I parked outside the gate and stepped out of my car, I could hear numerous species singing. Almost immediately I picked up American Robin, Mourning Dove, Song Sparrow, and Red-winged Blackbird.
Walking just beyond the gate, I spotted a small sparrow perched and chipping along the road. At first I thought it was a Song Sparrow (common around here) but after I got my binoculars on it, the yellow face, short forked tail, weak central breast spot, and weak mustache identified it as a Savannah Sparrow. It’s probably nesting in the landfill grass. Half a dozen or so American Goldfinches were also flying around and calling, “Potato chip! Potato chip!”
I walked past the big pile of dirt on the right side of the road. Some activity that proved to be Cedar waxwings drew my attention to the top of the tree line. This was extremely busy. Within two minutes I’d spotted Great-crested Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, and one tantalizingly unidentified “little brown bird” that looked quite warbleresque. I’m not sure, but after consulting my field guide my current best guess is a Veery uncharacteristicly high in the trees.
I walked along the road, and soon heard the clear “Fitz-bew” of a Willow Flycatcher, which I then easily found perched in a small tree on the landfill. Then I heard something unfamiliar, much louder, and much closer. In fact it was almost at my feet. Not three meters away in a marshy, reedy area alongside the road I saw a Virginia Rail! I’d never seen one before, but this bird was unmistakable. I tried to get my camera out and take a picture, but by the time I did it had hidden in the vegetation. It continued to call for several minutes though.
I continued along the road into the woods and encountered some of the biggest, meanest mosquitoes it’s ever been my displeasure to know. Next time I’m covering myself in DEET. I could barely swat one before two more landed. A probable Hermit Thrush and an unidentified woodpecker were both heard in the woods, but I couldn’t take the mosquitoes and beat a hasty retreat through the Arboretum. The Arboretum yielded up three Chipping Sparrows and several more Willow Flycatchers.
Then I crossed over the blissfully mosquito-free landfill, flushing several Bobolinks in the process. These are not life birds, but I’d never seen one in full breeding plumage before, and I had to check my field guide to be sure. Also crossing the landfill were several Tree Swallows. I can only hope they were doing their part to control the mosquito population.
Final bird of the day was a Common Grackle flying over (not uncommon up here in Bangor). The loop only took me about 45 minutes total, but that time between 6:45 and 7:30 was enough for the tree line along the road by where I’d parked my car to have quieted down considerably. The sun’s rises about 4:30 A.M. up here, and the birds rise early. This is not a state for birders who like to sleep in. I plan to return to this site Friday morning with DEET in hand, and see what else I can find here.
