I was out with a couple of friends the evening before. We’d been thoroughly engaged listening to the painfully loud calls of the Spring Peepers (Pseudacris crucifer) when I pointed out an Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) call to one of my pals. He pulled out his phone and got on the Merlin App to try and id the call a little better. Lo and behold, on the list of birds included in his immediate recorded was a Sora (Porzana carolina)! Now, Soras aren’t too rare, or too interesting to many, but they are a bird I have never seen, never heard, and barely heard of. When we were discussing who a Sora is, all I know was that they were a waterbird that didn’t look like a duck. I imagined something more akin to an American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosa), but I was way off.

Soras are still mysterious to me, but it was fun to go back to the pond, listen to the birds again the following morning, and bring out some books to learn more and reflect on listening. I hope y’all enjoy it as well.

To learn more :
Birds of Lake Pond and Marsh by John Eastman. Stackpole Books, 1999.