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Subject:

Swan Harbor Rails

From:

David Ziolkowski

Reply-To:

David Ziolkowski

Date:

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:13:24 -0400

Apologies for the delayed post but may be of interest to
those hoping to find rails at Swan Harbor (Harford Co.).
The foggy conditions of this past Saturday AM and the
keen eyes and ears of a group doing a post-conference
roundup  (7:30-9:30) yielded extended close-up views of
2 pairs of King Rails, 3 pairs of Virginia Rails, and at
least 6 simultaneously singing or calling Sora Rails.  In
addition, Least Bitterns were in good visibility with at least
3 singing at one time, a handful of singing Marsh Wrens,
and 1 singing Pied-billed Grebe.

Except for the Soras (where pairing was difficult to ascertain),
nearly all of the aforementioned rails were seen preening or
calling together.  None appeared to have young with them.
Our conservative counts came as a surprise to us given the
relatively small size of the wetland and ease of accessibility
(paying mind only to footing with the many muskrat holes).

Cheers,

Dave

---------------------------------------------------------
Dave Ziolkowski Jr.
USGS PWRC, Laurel
dziolkowski at usgs dot gov