I had a lot of areas that I planned to survey for rails and marsh birds, but have been running out of time. I was at a spot last week and realized that I was not going to get there at night, so I did Virginia Rail play back and got a response. A few days later I was surveying a private farm in late morning and got one spontaneously calling from a marsh that was not even visible and I did not know existed. I then went to a spot that I had been unsuccessful at before and got two to respond. At this point it was mid-day. For a few nights this week I have gone to spots that I considered marginal or have tried and failed at in the past. I had one spontaneously calling and three others at four locations.  It should be noted that all day-time callers or responders were on very overcast days and I do not do playback unless surveying or scouting areas. Several birds were in salt marshes but way up in the marsh so as to be in fresh or brackish water. My point would be that this seems to be a very good time to find rails in your atlas blocks. I would never have guessed this. I imagine it has something to do with with the spring/summer breeding cycle, but I have not had a chance to look into it. I don't know how much longer this window will last. Others have noted Clapper Rails coming out in the open with their young recently.  Glenn Williams Mystic

I'll note that a few days ago I got 2 Virginia Rails in a marsh in Middlebury that has been one of my regular birding spots as long as I've lived in CT. Over time the site has gotten better for marsh birds, with a significant increase in cattails. But attempts to find rails in the past have been unsuccessful. This was a day-time event. One rail called spontaneously in a cattail area. I commenced playback and I soon had 2 calling together in a small section of the marsh. It's an addition to the Atlas block I live in Greg Hanisek Waterbury On Thu, Jul 22, 2021 at 5:05 PM Glenn Williams via CTBirds < ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org> wrote: > I had a lot of areas that I planned to survey for rails and marsh birds, > but have been running out of time. I was at a spot last week and realized > that I was not going to get there at night, so I did Virginia Rail play > back and got a response. A few days later I was surveying a private farm in > late morning and got one spontaneously calling from a marsh that was not > even visible and I did not know existed. I then went to a spot that I had > been unsuccessful at before and got two to respond. At this point it was > mid-day. For a few nights this week I have gone to spots that I considered > marginal or have tried and failed at in the past. I had one spontaneously > calling and three others at four locations. > > It should be noted that all day-time callers or responders were on very > overcast days and I do not do playback unless surveying or scouting areas. > Several birds were in salt marshes but way up in the marsh so as to be in > fresh or brackish water. > > My point would be that this seems to be a very good time to find rails in > your atlas blocks. I would never have guessed this. I imagine it has > something to do with with the spring/summer breeding cycle, but I have not > had a chance to look into it. I don't know how much longer this window will > last. Others have noted Clapper Rails coming out in the open with their > young recently. > > Glenn Williams > Mystic > > CTBirds, a service of Connecticut Ornithological Association - Bringing > birders together statewide. Please support COA: > https://www.ctbirding.org/join-us/ > CTBirds is for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For > list rules and subscription information visit: > https://www.ctbirding.org/birds-birding/ct-birds-email-list/