Va-Birders --
Janet and I got up early (for us) and headed to Huntley Meadows to see the
Black Rail. We arrived about 8:15am, and birders who were leaving said they
heard the Rail for an hour until 7:45. We were a little disappointed, thinking
we had missed our chance, but kept going. We stopped at the wide spot about
100 yards after the split on the boardwalk, where we had heard it's been seen
and heard. We stood there for @ 45 minutes, seeing hundreds of red-winged
blackbirds, several great blues and Great Egrets. A woman who had driven up
from Richmond said she heard it for about an hour earlier and was going to give
the bird another hour and then leave.
She called out an adult Mississipi Kite soaring in the distance to the West
above the tree line about 9:00am. We watched the Kite for awhile and then
started giving her directions to Dyke Marsh when another birder noted the call
of the Rail. We all froze and heard it, starting about 9:15. We strained our
eyes and heard it continually for about an hour and 10 minutes (except for a
five minute break), when we finally had to leave, it never showed.
While watching for the elusive Rail, we saw two Mississippi Kites soaring to
the North above us, perhaps the same Kite plus another? We also had a Green
Heron land on the boardwalk behind us, hunt in the water for a short while,
plunge in and come up with a good sized Bull Frog. It flew away to enjoy its
meal in private. An Osprey flew over and a Red-bellied Woodpecker hammered in
a tree on the way out of the park. Other birds were typical for Huntley
Meadows this time of year.
Good birding,
Jack and Janet Powers
Alexandria, VA, USA
powersalex@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://powersalex.homestead.com
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