On October 16, a Yellow Rail specimen was found by Jan Reese near
San Domingo Creek along the south side of St. Michaels in Talbot County.
The bird was on a muddy road side near a bridge that crosses a tributary to
the creek.  There are some fairly low overhead power lines crossing the road
at that point.  Most likely, this bird died from hitting one of the power
lines, and, unfortunately, had been run over by cars before being found.

          The corpse was pretty well flattened, but carried no odor that
would suggest decomposition, so Jan felt the bird had flown to that spot
just a couple of days or so before it was found. 

          Since Jan is licensed and certified for such work, the skin will
be prepared for research use.  A report will also be prepared and forwarded
to the MD/DC Records Committee for their review.  Photographs of the
specimen will be included.

 

          Jan showed the flattened specimen to Talbot Bird Club members who
had assembled at Black Walnut Point for birding on Oct 17th.  Though the
body was flat, the head, wings, and legs were in good condition, and the
feathers of back and front of the bird were in good enough condition to make
positive identification very easy to attain.

 

          Les Roslund (on behalf of Jan Reese)

          Talbot County

          Easton, MD