Rhode Island Trip Yields 2 of 3 Target Statebirds

An early summer day in Rhode Island with good birding friend Denny Abbott yielded 2 new statebirds for me.  First was a pair of Common Moorhens at Sisson Pond in Portsmouth, which had been reported earlier in the week.  That was my first trip to this location, so thankfully Denny knew the spot well.  The moorhens were swimming in the open at the edge of the cattails, making the spotting pretty easy. 

Next we headed down to Trustom Pond in South Kingstown in search of recently reported Least Bitterns.  I've tried for them there in the past but with no luck.  When Denny and I arrived at the end of Otter Point trail 2 other birders were there with just negative reports.  Undaunted, we camped out at the observation platform and waited.  A few minutes later one of the other birders saw one fly by, but unfortunately no one else saw it.  Luckily a few minutes later another bird flew in, and even perched in the open for all to see.  It appeared that there was a pair of birds possibly coming to/from a nesting site, and likely flying off to feeding spots nearby.  Great views of such a secretive bird!  The location of the likely nest is shown on the attached map.

Then Denny and I headed up to East Greenwich, RI to give a try for Mississippi Kites.  For the last several years a pair has nested in that town, but the location has not been divulged to protect the birds and to avoid bothering the local residents.  We drove around East Greenwich for 3 hours but with no luck at all.  There were plenty of neighborhoods that looked very similar to the New England Kite nesting locations in CT and NH and those I've seen elsewhere in places like VA, IL, and NE.  The only raptors we found were 2 Red-tails and an Osprey.  Needless to say we neither bothered the birds nor the local residents during our little trip to the town.

Inserted below are my statebird maps for both Least Bittern and Common Moorhen with those states where I've seen the birds highlighted in blue.  I've got each species now in 5 of 6 New England states.  (You might want to click on the maps to get expanded views of the small New England states.)