So Ingrid and I are at our condo in Cape Elizabeth (just south of Portland, Maine) and a rare Common Gallinule is reported on a pond in Belfast … a bird rarely seen this side of the Mississippi. My birding has been limited for the last four weeks by my shoulder injury, but yesterday I planning to get up early and get the Gallinule.
But I’m still driving with just one hand and my shoulder hurt so much that night I barely slept at all … so I bagged the three hour drive.
About 10:00 am Ingrid texted me … a friend had just found ANOTHER Common Gallinule 10 minute from the condo… sometimes it’s smarter to be lucky then lucky to be smart.
The day before a Rufous Hummingbird appeared at a feeder in Dayton, Maine . . . the third straight year I’ve been lucky enough to see Rufous in Maine. Normally we only have Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.
![](https://www.bigyearbirding.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Rufous-Hummingbird-looking-Left-1024x683.jpg)
![](https://www.bigyearbirding.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Rufous-Hummingbird-1024x683.jpg)
![](https://www.bigyearbirding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Rufous-Hummingbird-Hovering-as-it-Feeds-1024x683.jpg)