The Yellow Rail Walk

One of the April events that I always look forward to when in East Texas is the Yellow Rail Walk at Anahuac NWR, led by David Sarkosi.

The Rail Walk at Anahuac - 4/23/11 (Photo by John Vanderpoel)

Actually as you can see in this picture, it’s more of a “happining” than a walk.  Anywhere from 60 to 120 people show up n a Saturday morning.  Half of them tromp through Spartina grass in a closed line to flush a Yellow Rail, a secretive bird that looks a little like a small chicken.  The other half (wiser half) stay on the road and watch hoping to get a fleeting glance of the rail as it flies off only to land 40 yards away.

David Sarkosi discussing strategy (Photo by John Vanderpoel)

For me it was an important event Big-Year wise. Certainly the best chance to actually see one.  Yesterday was tough going. People were dropping like flies, but we finally kicked one up.

Terrible photo of Yellow Rail( Photo by John Vanderpoel)