As many years as I have done the Howard �Big Day� trip (one spring and one fall) I have never had the pleasure of having such a remarkable experience as with the Black Rail we found.
We played through Sora and Virginia rails in hopes of getting a response. They are rare migrants through Howard (although we have had a few nesting records). Then for fun I commented �play them all� as a joke. As soon as the Black rail call played we heard a vigorous answer from the grass nearby. If you could have seen us in our astonishment! We immediately stopped the tape and listened as the bird called repeatedly for many minutes. We waited for a time and then moved closer to try to get a visual. We then played the tape one time and the bird responded. The call at this time changed. We stopped the tape and backed off to leave the bird alone. The audio was enough to verify as a new county record.
This was a trip published in the Maryland Yellowthroat as are all the other trips to Howard private properties. It is unfortunate many of our best birding areas are limited access and need pre-approval. It was nice we had an out of county attendant since most of the Howard private property trips are attended by Howard County folks. We have tossed around what the next county bird would be and never dreamed of this one!
Clip of calling Black rail http://flic.kr/p/epmZpP
Bonnie
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