We awoke this morning at 4 a.m., made our Sunday breakfast of bacon and eggs, and then drove through the darkness to Quivira N.W.R.  There was a light fog that slowed us down.  The deer here are many and large.  When we reached the marsh it was already light.  All was gray.  We drove and walked a few miles through the area labelled “Black Rail Marsh” and heard no calls.  I flushed a Virginia Rail that we coaxed from the grass and watched for several minutes.  It was a great bird to see, but still no Black Rail.  It may be too early in the season.  We will try again tonight.

The roads had dried a bit and we took the sand road to the prairie dog town.  There were plenty of them but no Upland Sandpiper.  Too bad, but we may hear their outrageous song later on the trip. 

We found Yellow Warbler and Common Yellowthroat singing this morning.  That is not unusual, but we had not heard them on either of the past two days.  Probably they have just arrived.  New arrivals today included a pair of Peregrine Falcon, always a wonderful bird to see.  One made a short flight that stirred up all the birds on that part of the marsh.    Another new bird for Quivira was an aldult bald eagle that similarly caused many Shoveler to fly and even made a flock of roosting White Pelican stand at attention. 

We finished the morning there at 11 with lunch at a grove of elms green with seed.  While dining I noticed a sparrow at the edge of the trees and looked up to see a White-crowned Sparrow.  That was a new bird for the trip and for the year too.  What fun is birding.

New birds for the trip today were:  Peregrine Falcon, Virginia Rail, Least Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Western Kingbird, Northern Mockingbird, Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, White-crowned Sparrow, and Lincoln’s Sparrow.

The Pectoral Sandpiper was in an odd flock consisting of a pair of Lesser Yellowlegs, a Semipalmated Sandpiper, and itself.  We had hoped for  Pectorial Sanpiper this spring, but thought we would miss it.  This bird is on its way from somewhere in South America to northern Alaska or northern Canada.  How lucky we were to admire it in central Kansas. 

We had seen Western Kingbirds in south Florida last winter and have to wonder if any of those birds are with us here today.

The refuge bird list reports Peregrine Falcon as occasional.  We have visited thr refuge just these last three days and so were fortunate to have found this pair that is probably migrating with its food supply.  It is never a bad day of birding when you see a Peregrine fly.

Joy comes in small packages too.  I spied the Lincoln’s Sparrow when we were looking for the Black Rail.  It was hopping along a ditch among grasses and branches.  Less than 6” long, it is a small sparrow similar to a Swamp Sparrow.  But whereas the “Swampy” is widespread in the East, the Lincoln’s is uncommon there except in Canada.  Eastern birders become very proud when they find a migrating or wintering Lincoln’s within flocks of other sparrows.  In parts of the West, finding Lincoln’s is routine.  We knew we would find Lincoln’s on this trip; we just didn’t know when.

This bird was moving away from me, and I could not see its face or breast, where the field marks are.  I noticed rufous on the wings, but thought they were not red enough for a Swamp Sparrow, a similar species.  It disappeared into the grass and then its head emerged.  Too gray for a Swamp Sparrow.  Finally it flew a few feet to an open perch facing me and displayed a lovely buffy breast with narrow streaks and a small dark spot in the middle.  Both of us saw and savored this view of the diminutive songbird.  Perhaps next week we will let our glass pass by Lincoln’s thinking “just another sparrow,” but for today it was a prize well earned and appreciated.  We hope to hear its song that I liken to the Star Spangled Banner on this trip too.  Perhaps in the Rockies where they breed.