In addition to the missing Osprey nest nearby, highlights around the Willet Pond on Kiawah included a fine Gray Catbird sitting among brown marsh grass, and several Red-winged Blackbirds, whose shoulder patches gleamed very bright, glistening red. At least three dozen Pied-billed Grebes were scattered over the pond, floating in small groups here and there. Two American Coots swam in and out of tall grasses. Many White Ibis fed in the grass, mostly screened from view, but visible now and then, and at least one Glossy Ibis. A Great Blue Heron, a Great Egret, and one Little Blue Heron \u2013 dark purplish-gray-blue \u2013 stalked in water and grass not far away, and several Tri-colored Herons emerged in spots all over the pond and marsh. A couple of Forster\u2019s Terns flashed over \u2013 we saw a lot of them this trip. They seemed to be everywhere, which was fine with me. No matter how many times I see them, they never lose their magic. <\/p>\n
Just as we turned to leave, a plump, compact bird with a brownish, streaked back, stubby little upturned tail and a long thin orange bill swam out of a clump of grass on the edge of the pond near where I stood, and disappeared into another grassy patch. A Clapper Rail \u2013 I think. I\u2019ve never before seen one so close and so clearly. Once again, I\u2019m not completely sure \u2013 it might have been a King Rail \u2013 but other reports from this same pond in recent days have mentioned a Clapper, so I\u2019m thinking that must have been what it was. I\u2019ve heard them many times, but never had such a vivid, though very brief, view.<\/p>\n
Does it matter if it was a King Rail or a Clapper? A Short-billed Dowitcher or a Long-billed? Well, yes and no. I\u2019d like to know for sure, and I keep trying to learn more and to be more observant, but so often in birding it just doesn\u2019t happen. You see a bird \u2013 then it\u2019s gone, and there\u2019s no instant replay. You\u2019ll never know for sure. Though I try to get it right, it\u2019s not the certainty that I enjoy \u2013 but almost exactly the opposite. The worlds of possibility,<\/em> the challenge, the surprises, the reminder to appreciate how much we do not know \u2013 for me this is the pleasure and the point. The glimpses of something seen, but not captured or held, give birding its breath and spirit \u2013 as well as its frustrations \u2013 and make it not a static, knowable, countable thing, but an always fresh and somewhat mysterious joy. And there\u2019s always next time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In addition to the missing Osprey nest nearby, highlights around the Willet Pond on Kiawah included a fine Gray Catbird sitting among brown marsh grass, and several Red-winged Blackbirds, whose shoulder patches gleamed very bright, glistening red. At least three dozen Pied-billed Grebes were scattered over the pond, floating in small groups here and there. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/birdingnotes.sigridsanders.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/birdingnotes.sigridsanders.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/birdingnotes.sigridsanders.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birdingnotes.sigridsanders.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birdingnotes.sigridsanders.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=487"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/birdingnotes.sigridsanders.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":489,"href":"https:\/\/birdingnotes.sigridsanders.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487\/revisions\/489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/birdingnotes.sigridsanders.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birdingnotes.sigridsanders.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birdingnotes.sigridsanders.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}