Marine Park Rails
I received an email on Monday from Ron Bourque. That morning, he and his wife, Jean, had been at the Marine Park Salt Marsh Nature Center surveying Clapper Rails. At one point, while playing back a Clapper Rail recording, they were shocked to hear a Sora respond. Sora vocalizations are unique and don't sound anything like a Clapper Rail. They are small, skulking marsh birds that are more often heard than seen. I don't believe that they breed in NYC, but are seen, most often during the migration. I rode my bike to the saltmarsh the next morning, hoping to track down the bird.
I brought along some portable speakers and rail recordings, optimistic that I'd play a Sora call and one would step out of the marsh grass and march right up to me ... not. Hey, you never know.
I spent a long time walking to various vantage points along the trail that parallels the east side of the marsh, stopping to play the calls, then listening and scanning the grass. There wasn't any response to the recorded Sora whinnying, but whenever I played Clapper Rail vocalization, a chorus of "kek, kek, kek, kek, kek" joined in immediately. I was surprised at how many of these shy birds were hidden within the spartina grass.
1 comment:
LOL @ perceiving you as a giant Clapper Rail! The rail looked a bit confused walking back and forth. With my luck Id never get to see anything like that. That was great!
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