New Jersey bird (1 Viewer)

[mordovarot]

Hi guys,

Another stupid question. Ok, last year I was at Sandy Hook, New Jersey, south of New York. It was August 31. And I heard a call which I believe was a call of a Yellow Rail. There also was another record of the Yellow Rail on ebird that day in this area.
So the question is - is it possible to mix it up with someone else call?

Thank you.

 

[Microtus]

Hi Viktor, it's not a stupid question, it could be possible that another animal can sound like a Yellow Rail (though I can't name one off the top of my head). eBird has one accepted record of Yellow Rail from New Jersey from last year, which was in the Great Swamp some tens of miles to the northwest of Sandy Hook.

 

[Nutcracker]

... it could be possible that another animal can sound like a Yellow Rail (though I can't name one off the top of my head)....

I can, all too easily, unfortunately: a birder using a Yellow Rail tape lure, hiding in the marsh in the hope of getting a photo

 

[Microtus]

August 31 is early for a Yellow Rail in the mid-Atlantic states, though eBird has two records for the month: one in Maryland from 1999, one in West Virginia from 1984.