A black rail and a snowy owl in Northern Indiana

It’s been a strange week as far as July birding goes. On July 3, a farmer near Shipshewana, Indiana heard a bird calling from a wet field near their buildings. He wasn’t even sure if it was a bird or perhaps some kind of frog. However, it didn’t take long for the young birders in the area to realize that it was a black rail.

The word was spread quickly via the grapevine, phone calls and the local bird alert. Birders were warmly welcomed, and most were able to hear the rail quite easily for the first few days.

It didn’t take long before some birders walked out into the field and were able to surround the bird to take photos and videos. Reports were that the rail continued to walk around and feed, paying little or no attention to the birders just a few feet away.

When the calling slowed down, birders who came from a distance, including several adjoining states, played black rail calls to encourage the celebrity to respond, which it did for awhile.

By the seventh day the only time the rail was heard was at night between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. On day eight, the bird wasn’t heard at all, although a rail-like call came from the same area of the field late in the evening. It will be interesting to see if the bird is heard again or if it has left.

Almost 200 people signed the guest book at the Helmuth farm, and everyone enjoyed the hospitality of the family who welcomed one and all. It will be a time that everyone remembers as one of those very special events that brings together people from all walks of life.

Sometimes visitors waited for several hours, talking quietly together and enjoying the night sky. The night that I was there, our group included two birders from Battle Creek, Michigan and five local boys who biked from their homes to listen for the rail. Birding is alive and well in this community.

On Saturday night, July 7, there was an air show and fireworks at the Goshen airport. A large crowd was on hand, and there was lots of noise, which I could hear from our place about 4 miles away. We were all very surprised the next morning when photos of a snowy owl were posted on Facebook.

Many people saw the snowy owl as it flew around the airport, even landing at times on the runway. A July snowy owl in Indiana is totally unexpected. One wonders what it has been doing on all the 90 F days we’ve had since May. Efforts to find the snowy owl the next morning were unsuccessful, but local birders will keep checking.

Meanwhile, shorebirds are starting to appear in Ohio, mainly at Wilderness Road in the Funk Bottoms Wildlife Area. Birders continue to be amazed by the “tame” king rails at Force Road in the Killbuck Marsh Wildlife Area. July is proving to be quite interesting.

Good birding!

Reach Bruce Glick atbirderbruce@yahoo.com or 330-317-7798.