Anahuac used to run "marsh buggy" tours to see rails in the winter. These tours have been discontinued because of the habitat distruction they caused. At the time I wrote this you can see a very public example of why. When crossing the intercoastal canal at High Island look to the east on the south side of the canal. There are a pair of "marsh buggy" tracks that were made in July 1997. almost a year later they are painly visiable. Imagine weekly or even monthly tours would do.

There are two good ways to see a Yellow Rail. The easiest is to join either the San Bernard CBC or the Bolivar CBC and try for a spot on the marsh buggy there. The buggies are still used for this once a year and Yellow Rail is pretty much a sure thing.

The other is to go out and "stomp it up". Here's the basic method. Get a rope and tie on about 5 milk jugs filled with about a pound of rocks so it will rattle loud. Then drag it (here's where you'll need the help of a few friends) though the right habitat. With luck you'll get a rail or two to flush.

The right habitat is about knee deep spartina grass that has about 3-5cm of standing water (just enough to spash underfoot). Yellow Rails seem to prefer habitat that has been disrupted a little, grazing cattle seem to do this just right. It's thought that the disruption makes pathways for the rails to travel though. In March and April I find them in the same habitat that has singing Seaside Sparrows in it.

What do you look for? The Yellow Rail is smaller than a Meadowlark. It is very buffy in color with a stripped/checkered back. They bill is short and yellow or greenish. In flight it shows large white patches on the secondaries. The white patches are the best field mark to look for.

When should you look? Yellow Rails are present from the October though May. Numbers are greatest in March and April. In the Spring of 1998 the Friends of Anahuac Refuge hosted regular tours for Yellow Rails. The current plain is to do this again in 1999, and prehaps expand it.

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