Rail Royalty
Tuesday 25 July 2017
On July 2, I birded Bartel Grassland Forest Preserve with my good buddy Jonathan Bontrager from Indiana in hopes of finding a rare species called a King Rail, a bird that would be a life bird for him!
EASTERN MEADOWLARK singing:
And after a bit of walking and sweating in the sun, we found our bird!!!!!
A VIRGINIA RAIL was also present:
As well as Rail chicks, of which we're unsure as to the species. King or Virginia? Any thoughts?
This Beaver was also nice, a "life mammal" for me!
Bird-of-the-day goes to the adult King Rail, an awesome find for Illinois!
Also a quick note - due to my departure from IBET, migration reports will not be posted there in the future, but instead onto my migration blog (which you can subscribe to receive the reports in emails):
ilmigration.blogspot.com
Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 929 Species (latest life bird as of 6-8-17: Least Bittern)
I would say "king", because of the dark bill.
by Liz Cifani