[mou] Aitkin County night birding: Yellow Rails, LeConte's and Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrows (Long))

[Alt, Mark]

	Kim Risen has been sending me pictures- pictures of a bird I have never =
seen - and it is sitting on his hand.  A Yellow Rail - a lifer for me.  =
Two weeks before I had been in Aitkin County in north central Minnesota =
and talked my family into stopping by the marshland SE of McGregor.  =
Bugs swarmed to attack my family through the briefly opened door, the =
wind and traffic noise were deafeningly loud, and I was soon back on my =
way with a car full of loved ones promising to never do that again - to =
them. I immediately began plotting a trip to return.
	Sunday night, 6/29/03, Richard Peet, the MOU's nature recording =
archivist, and I head north around 4:30 pm, arriving at Rice Lake NWR =
around 6:30 pm.  Kim Risen and Cindy Butler were there to meet us, and =
we were soon on our way to pick up some of the local specialties: =
LeConte's Sparrow, Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow, and Yellow Rail.=20
	It was a glorious, 75-degree day.  The sun shown brightly as it dropped =
low in the sky and the wind blew lightly from the west. Painted Turtles =
were seen dropping eggs along the roadside, webbed hind feet scraping a =
bowl of mud out of the road edge as the turtles propped themselves up on =
the turf alongside the road. We headed towards the panoramic view =
platform deep in the refuge, stopping to videograph Bobolinks in flight =
song.  Complex songs follow these birds like jet streams as they climb =
overhead, then set their wings and tail into a stiff rigid posture, =
settling slowly on quivering wings to the sedge below. They come down =
slow like a well-made paper airplane. As the bird nears the ground, its =
black front is replaced by the "prairie in bloom" camouflage on its back =
from my vantage point.=20
	A distant LeConte's delivered its call to the north of us, too far for =
a great recording.  Dragonflies abounded, mostly Green Darners, Emeralds =
(Species unknown), with Kim taking a picture of a Bluet (Species =
unknown) they had taken and describing a 12 spotted skimmer to me.  I =
wish I had had my book with me.=20
	We drove the refuge's gravel roads and Kim yelled out for us to stop.  =
A LeConte's was now singing from an exposed perch of sedge grass. Rich =
captured it with such clarity so we could hear the jumbled twittering =
that precedes the Tic-Tzee-Tic phrasing.
	8:30 pm: Kim said it was time to hit the big bog and we headed to Hwy =
65, stopping =BD mile south of the "T" intersection with 210.  We heard =
Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrows from the western marsh.  They sound just =
like a hot poker being thrust into a bucket of water. 4 birds were =
heard, but our recordings were poor. We now had to wait for "Rail time", =
so we headed into the Fireside restaurant in McGregor to quaff a beer. =
Cindy passed on the rail hunt; getting wet was "For Tourists".  It was =
she who had taken the photo of the rail on Kim's hand, and not gotten =
wet at all. We would not be so lucky.
	10:30 pm: we headed out to the marshy backside of the restaurant to =
conjure up the Rails, nothing heard, so we drove the quarter mile to the =
BP station where two LeConte's were heard calling, Time for the big bog =
where we had heard the Sharp-taileds. I donned my waders, loaded up with =
DEET and listened for Rails with ears cupped by my hands. We were right =
at the road's edge, and had to wait for a gap in the traffic noise so we =
could hear.=20
	A close Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow called and soon Rich had an "A" =
quality recording, Kim estimated 1/3 to =BD a mile to the rails, they =
were barely audible when everything was silent and we were soon trudging =
through the sedge.  We proved his estimate to be close as we covered =
nearly =BD mile to get to the birds.=20
The going was difficult, with water coming to mid-calf, sedge grass and =
mud holding on to our feet as we sunk in with each step. Then we started =
through the really boggy part, a mat of vegetation that bounced at each =
footstep, it felt like a quaking bog. There was none of the putrefying =
smells I have run into in bogs or swamps down south. We were now up to =
over our knees at every step.  The stars were brilliant in the clear =
night sky, and when we used our flashlights we could see our breath.  It =
was about 50 degrees now. The moon was gone, but with the starlight we =
could make out the dark path Kim cut against the lighter sedges and =
cattails. =20
	Cattails meant deeper water and as we stopped to get our bearings on =
the birds ahead, we would scan with our lights to pick a "grassy" trail =
there.  1/2 a mile in, it was all cattails. Each of us went in chest =
deep a few times; progress halted. The birds were now only about 50 =
yards away, so Rich recorded a few minutes with 4 Yellow Rails doing =
their 5 note samba percussion; Virginia Rails, LeConte's, Nelson's =
Sharp-tailed and Savannah Sparrows improvising in the background; =
Western Chorus Frogs, Spring Peepers and American Toads carried the =
tenor rhythm section; and crickets in the distance. =20
	Kim explained that all we had to do was cross over 50 yards of cattails =
ahead to get close up to the closest Yellow Rail. The difference between =
theory and reality became apparent. We tried crossing in several spots, =
with Kim going in to his neck at one point, Rich and I sank up to our =
waists.  One Yellow Rail was now circling about 40 yards away; you could =
hear its tone change as he turned around while still calling.  Rich got =
his "A" recording then.
	The call of the Yellow Rail goes :  Tic-tic tic-tic-tic. The first two =
tics have a 1 second duration, the three tics that follow also are a =
second in duration.  The sound quality is replicated easily by striking =
a quarter on edge hard against another quarter held flat and maintaining =
that rhythm. Around 30 times a minute 60 minutes an hour, from 10:00 pm =
till 4:00 am, that means each bird sounds out their 5 note Morse code =
spelling of "is" over 10,000 times a night.  They are loud and fairly =
stationary, so while it is pretty simple to hear them, but it isn't =
always easy to get near enough to do it. Such was the case tonight.=20
	We trudged out the way we came in and found ourselves at roadside at =
12:30 pm. The greenish glow of Northern lights bulged like a flattened =
bubble on the northern horizon, an overall misty glow of emerald broken =
by two or three vertical waves that shone brighter than the rest of the =
event. Sigurd Olson claimed he could hear the static pops and hissing of =
the Aurora, I forgot to ask Rich to try and record it.=20
	Off to home, in by 3 am.  Someone at work today asked me why this was =
fun.  I really don't know, but Bob Jannsen once mentioned that he felt =
birds were a manifestation of God's grace. I believe that. I know it =
sure makes me feel good.  Recording their calls provided the main =
impetus for being there, and whenever we considered turning back, we =
asked Rich Peet "How is the quality of your recording?" Until Rich said, =
"I got it", we kept going.  I got it too, but not on any tape, and not =
even in the words of this journal account.  I got it deeper than that.  =
Passion.

Mark Alt
Brooklyn Center, MN
mark.alt@bestbuy.com

"Birds and their songs are important to me, they add to my enjoyment of =
life" ***
***even in swamps