I'm finally getting a chance to post about the Yelow Rail chase last
night.  Apologies to those who are chasing tonight, this is my first
chance to deal with personal email (wasn't in bed until 5:00 am
yesterday and had to work today).  Actually, I don't have much to add to
the previous posts, especially Jeff's good summary, but will try to fill
in a few blanks.

Jeff & I arrived at about 10:35pm, and Carol Broderick and Joe Byrnes
were already there.  The Virginia & Clapper Rails were vocalizing, and
as Jeff mentioned, the still night meant that their voices carried well.
 Other birders arrived shortly after that, and we centered around the
spot on the road where previous birders had left the beer bottle.  At
this time I would like to publicly apologize to Carol and her friends
for the curt comment about talking - I was anxious to listen to the
birds and overly sensitive to other sounds. I know how easy it is to get
to socializing in the field, and I do hope they don't take it personally
(especiall since it was so dark that I don't even know who I was talking
to).

Over the next 2+ hours we listened intently, and heard quite a few other
birds (as Jeff mentioned).  I missed the Saltmarsh Sharp-tail, but heard
all the others.  The evening reminded me of the MD Big Days of years
past, and I missed standing next to Michael O'Brien during these sorts
of field experiences, as he would have been able to tell me who was
making the various seeps and peeps we were hearing overhead.  Given that
some birds only vocalized once or twice at best over this whole time
(Sora, Royal Tern, Gadwall) told me that there was more out there than
one would think if they didn't spend a lot of time at this spot.

At 12:20pm some of us heard the distant Black Rail "sing" twice.  I
thought it was more like a minute apart, not 20 seconds as Jeff said,
but in any case, they two calls were close together.  And that was all
we heard of that bird - after standing in the exact same spot for about
an hour and 45 minutes!  

It was about 20 minutes after that, at 12:40, that two of us heard the
bird of interest (I believe the second birder was Scott M (Michaud?),
not Nico Sarbanes).  As mentioned, there was fair amount of activity at
the time, between birds (Clapper & Virginia Rails, especially) and one
of the other birders driving to the turn around spot and turning around.
 But at that point I heard at least one clear "tick tick dit-di-dit"
(the first part was the classic two stones tapping sound, but the second
part was faster and not as distinct as one hears on the sound
recordings).  I think there was a second call right after the first, but
by that point the car was close to us and all I could make out was
another "tick tick".  Overall the call was softer and of a different
quality than the "tick ticks" and "ki-dicks" of the other rails that we
were hearing all night (by different quality I mean that it was not as
resonant or full; it was a dryer sound, if that makes sense).  Because
of the brevity of the event, I couldn't tell how far out into the marsh
the bird was.  Frustrating to say the least, but the way it played out
was not surprising, as it's often one bird's song that gets other birds
to respond and create a chorus.  Nonetheless, I believe that what I
heard was the Yellow Rail - a bird I have heard before in Minnesota.

We stood around for another 35 minutes, but not hearing anything else
new or of interest, we decided to head home at 1:15 am since it was a
long drive back.

Good luck to anyone else who tries over the next few days.  And as Jeff
said, it's a great spot even if you don't hear a Yellow Rail.

Good birding,
Paul Pisano
Arlington, VA