[TN-Bird] Rail Habitat and Timing

Sept. 19, 2004
West TN and Eastern Ark.

I meant to write this on the weekend post but ran out of time this AM. While 
up around the rice fields near Reelfoot over the weekend, I was surprised that 
much of the harvesting has been done. This goes along with the other crops 
being harvested early here in the mid-south. We had a relatively dry early 
spring and then a rainy period and then relatively dry again allowing for quick 
planting, fast growing season and therefore an early harvest. Most of the 
cotton 
has be sprayed with defoliant, the corn has been combined, plowed under and 
most fields ready to seed with winter crops, a large amount of soybeans are 
already in the storage bins and evidently most of the rice. It was harvested 
too 
early for there to be much in the way of migrant rails and the fields are way 
too dry to hold any big number of these birds anyway.

I decided to ride back south through Arkansas on Sunday and after crossing 
the I-155 bridge to Missouri, I could see smoke rising to the south and sure 
enough harvested rice fields are already being burned off. I'd say 50% or 
better 
had been harvested but there again it was too early and way to dry for rails. 
I sat for a total of an hour at 3 locations being combined and my "dry tire" 
rule worked. Dry tires on combines = no rails, but I did see about a dozen 
Bobolinks and a single Long-billed Marsh Wren.

The best railing is just after the first of October and then if there is any 
rice left you need a wet field which might be very difficult to find. Not so 
good news for rails and birders but that is the best I could come up 
with............ I keep waiting for the stars and planets to line up and 
another year 
when hundreds of rails would grace our field glasses again but evidently, not 
this year :o(


Good Birding!!!

Jeff R. Wilson
OL'COOT / TLBA
Bartlett, TN


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