ML642345379

Media notes

One oddly upslurred call followed by some soft peeps by a couple different individuals.

Observation details

*Unusual and high; made my way to the berm in the marsh (42.3397874, -72.1426094) after counting sparrows along the edges and immediately flushed a rail out of the channel. Assuming either Virginia or Sora I tried a little playback of the former and had no luck. I tried Sora and immediately got a full whinny to my left. I finished my way to the dry berm and heard more splashing in the channel and soon two Sora calls from opposite directions followed immediately by some Virginia grunts. I played the single Sora whinny again two separate times and the second time had five birds respond from various directions almost simultaneously. Very soon after I had a clear visual of two Sora chasing each other in the channel below where only one had called from before.

Additional species

• Swamp Sparrow Melospiza georgiana
• Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata
• Lincoln's Sparrow Melospiza lincolnii