Rails 2

This past spring (2007), we birded the Rio Grande River from Laredo to Santa Anna NWR, and then up the coast from South Padre Island to High Island. Until now, we had not seen another Clapper Rail since that first siting at Laguna Madre Nature Trail in 2004, and so we drove there one March afternoon.

On one side of the boardwalk, the marsh grasses (from 2004) had changed into wet mud with little vegetation, and the other side was full of tall dried reeds. My thought was that no rail was going to walk through that mud, and then I would never find one on the other side of the boardwalk in the tall dried reeds.

Again, it had been a quiet birding afternoon and we were ready to leave for camp. Suddenly, I heard a rail call and then it came out of the tall reeds into the open, found a crustacean to eat and disappeared. I managed to get several photos, so I was happy. But this rail was still hungry and came out hunting again. This time it stalked much more slowly as if it was posing for me. I took so many pictures that I quit photographing before it went back into hiding. A little later, another rail (I think) came out to hunt. This small wetland of only 4 acres is worth a stop every time!

Next, we travelled up along the coast and camped on the bay side of Galveston Island State Park right at the edge of the marsh grasses. That afternoon, I thought I heard the call of a Clapper Rail just 15 feet outside my door, but I didn't see any movement, and it called only once.

A couple days later, we had 6" of rain and the marsh was very wet. Again, I heard a call in the late afternoon, and so I stood in the doorway watching the marsh through my binoculars. Yes!!! I saw the rail and then another one. These Clapper Rails were moving toward me, into an open area good for pictures. Can you believe it, photographing rails from my camper doorway!



The birding literature says that you can find Clapper Rails along Yacht Basin Road on Goats Island, so we drove along the road slowly, but didn't hear or see any rails. The next day, I asked a birder from the area, if it was still true that Yacht Basin was a good rail location. I was assured that is was worth another drive by and, sure enough, we heard and then saw three Clapper Rails with one chasing another out of its territory.

It was 8 years since the first time we looked for Clapper Rails and we had seen them only once. Now in one trip, we see them in 3 different locations. This certainly will remain one of the high points of our trip.

The references and gear I used for this blog are:
Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars
The SIBLEY Guide to Birds

Rails

I like going "railing", that is, birding for rails.

It was in 1999, when my husband and I took a winter vacation in Texas and found the Laguna Madre Nature Trail, just south of the convention center on South Padre Island. There we became birders! I can't say it was only one event that took us over the hump but rather several. An elderly birder (older than me), standing beside me said, "There's a Least Sandpiper." Like a child birder, I asked "why?" He kindly explained that it was a very small sandpiper about 6" long and had yellow legs and that the other small sandpipers have black legs. It was so simple that I would never forget it.

Then, there was the moment when I looked straight down from the boardwalk and saw a Sora walking out of the marsh grasses into plain view and it stayed long enough for a good photo. Sora is my first rail.

Lastly, there was this birder with a nice scope and he had located a Least Bittern in its view. He made sure that everyone on the boardwalk (a dozen people) had an opportunity to look at this hard-to-find bird. All these events and people, at one small wetland, made us birders.

Everyone, we met there, was friendly and willing to share sightings and birding stories. Therefore, I knew there were Clapper Rails at this wetland and you could hear them (maybe see them) in the early morning and late afternoon. We tried getting to the wetlands early in the morning but I guess it was not early enough for we didn't see any other rails at this place.

My next opportunity to go to Laguna Madre Nature Trail was in 2004. By now, I had seen several birds in the rail family (Rallidae): Purple Gallinule (Florida), Common Moorhen (first in Louisiana), American Coot (everywhere), and Sora (many places), Virginia Rail (Bosque del Apache) but no Clapper Rail.

It was mid-afternoon on a windy day in January. There were not many species of birds to be seen, but my husband and I ended up talking for an hour with fellow Michiganders. Just after they left, we decided to leave too, because we (certainly) would not see any more species. As I walked back to the car, I took one last look out over the marsh and ...!!! There was a Clapper Rail.

I tried to focus the camera on this bird but it was moving quickly through the tall grasses and it disappeared. You could not trace its path because the grasses did not move. Then, there two more Clapper Rails, hunting for food and calling to each other. Wow, not just one rail but three.

From the front view, this rail species is very narrow or thin and after watching these birds for about 10 minutes, the expression "thin as a rail" has a new meaning for us.

I only got one photo that afternoon. but this rail saga will continue.

The references and gear I used for this blog are:
Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars
The SIBLEY Guide to Birds

It is a Parasitic Jaeger

I saw my first Jaeger on Monday, Mar. 26, 2007. That story is published in my blog Long-tailed Jaeger in Texas. In that blog and the next two, Long-tailed Jaeger 2, Long-tailed Jaeger 3, I published all my photos and discussed why our tour group decided that this was a Long-tailed Jaeger and not Parasitic or Pomarine Jaeger. As you see from the title, we were wrong.

I can now tell you the story of the verification process:
The day after the tour, my husband and I went to Aransas NWR and while we were in the office, the volunteer told us that the office staff was abuzz with the news that a Long-tailed Jaeger or other jaeger had been seen in the refuge. Someone had reported this to Aransas. Also one person of our group had promised the captain, he would report this sighting to the Texas Birds Records Committee (TBRC).

So, naturally, I expected to get a request for the use of my pictures soon. But by Thursday, I became impatient and published my first blog with the other two a couple of days later. Still nothing, no one called or emailed me.

I thought that when an unusual bird was sighted, that the birders from all over the world would rush to come to see it. At least, that's what I read in the magazines. I did hear that the jaeger was not seen on later tours. So hot news this was NOT!

Finally in July, No one had yet sent any information to the TBRC. Well, I thought, I know how to get some answers for my self and sent my story and pictures to one of the leading ornithologists, who had helped me with identification in the past, and his reply in less than a week was this:

"I hate to bring your sighting down a notch but I think this is a Parasitic Jaeger. I'm certain it's not a Long-tailed, which should have the wing coverts and back distinctly paler gray-brown, contrasting with darker flight feathers above, no white on the underwing (flying and turning photo) and a shorter bill. I'm less certain that it is not a Pomarine, but I think the bill is too slender and the pale forehead is typical of Parasitic."

This was his opinion with just a quick look and I am not disappointed, because any jaeger is a life bird for me. (Just change the name on my list and website. It doesn't change the bird!)

Then the next day, I get an email from Darrin Welchert, biologist at Aransas NWR, requesting information. (Some one's ears were burning with these emails and pictures flying through the whatever and reminded them that there had been this HOT sighting in March.) I sent all my pictures to Darrin, who in turn sent everything to the TBRC. This was the middle of July.

A couple of times, I received emails from other birders, who read my blog or saw pictures on my website, telling me that this was not a Long-tailed Jaeger but I replied that I would correct everything when it was OFFICIAL.

This week I received an email from the TBRC eliminating it as a Long-tailed Jaeger with the following conclusion:
1) length of gonoys too short compared with length of bill basal to gonydal length
2) dark of forehead continuing down well below lores
3) mantle too dark
4) central retrices too short for a bird of this age
5) bird was overall too large
TBRC consensus was that it is a Parasitic Jaeger.

There you have it. It's official. I don't understand some of the above points but it's a Parasitic Jaeger. !

So what's next? Does this get published in some birding magazines? No, the Parasitic Jaeger is a regularly occurring species in the state of Texas and the TBRC will add it to its database of observations but that's that.

Does this mean, our sighting did not make history? We still did, because the Parasitic Jaeger is a first record for Aransas NWR and raises it's species list from 404 to 405. I still have my life bird. Aransas NWF has another species on its list. This remains an incredible birding experience and story.

The references and gear I used for this blog are:
Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars
The SIBLEY Guide to Birds