King Rails, etc! (1 Viewer)

My family was visiting our relatives near Columbus, Ohio over the weekend. I birdwatch whenever I can, so I was looking up good places to bird near Columbus. I found out that there was a family of King Rails at Prairie Oaks Metropark, which is only about twenty minutes from where we were staying. On Saturday evening we drove over to Prairie Oaks Metropark. There were many shorebirds, ducks and songbirds in the area. I soon spotted one of the King Rails, walking around on some mud in the wide open. My dad and I watched it for several minutes before it slipped away through the reeds. I went back to scoping all the shorebirds. A minute later, the King Rail came back out. This time their was a baby King Rail following it! The chick was 3/4 as big as the adult, and black all over.

Since the birding was so good on Saturday evening, we returned to Prarie Oaks Metropark on Sunday morning. The King Rails were walking around on the mud again. There were even more shorebirds! I scanned through the flock. Most of them were Pectoral Sandpipers. There were also many Killdeer, Least, Semipalmated and Solitary Sandpipers, a few Semipalmated Plovers and Lesser Yellowlegses, and a single Spotted Sandpiper. There were also Eastern Meadowlarks, Field, Song and Grasshopper Sparrows, a Northern Harrier, and a Northern Mockingbird.

I will post some pictures as soon as I can.

I envy you the good Rail sightings! Sounds like a good place.

Okay, here are some photos. These were all taken at Prairie Oaks Metropark. The field notes I sketched directly after observation. I colored in the field notes the day after sketching them.


(Green Heron with captured frog)


(Green Heron swallowing frog)


(Green Heron digesting frog)


(Solitary Sandpiper)


(Far away King Rail)


(My field notes on King Rail)