Even if every pair of rails has 4 chicks, it isn't too likely that the
population will increase by much, if any.  A few years ago, we were birding  Force
Rd before the road had a gate across it.  If you had a vehicle with  high
clearance, you could usually drive all the way to the creek.  It was a  lot easier
to see a variety of wildlife, as the vehicle makes a terrific  blind.  We
even have a sun roof that 1 of us can stand in for a 360 degree  field of view.
Anyway, when we were about 1/2 way to the creek, we were  lucky enough to see
an adult rail (maybe 2, I can't remember) coming towards us,  right down the
road, with 4 chicks in tow.  They would move in & out of  the vegetation as
they came but we were able to watch them for about 5-10  minutes as they
approached.  When they got to within 10 feet of us, they  moved further into the
vegetation to a slightly denser area.  Every  once in a while we could still see
them moving about in there.  We still  hadn't  moved forward any when we saw a
mink coming down the same path as  the rails had come.  He would even move into
the vegetation at every place  the rails had.  So sure enough, when he
arrived at the spot where the rails  moved in deep, he went in right after them.
Suddenly the marsh exploded  with such awful squawks & screams, you can barely
imagine.  This went  on for what seemed like an eternity but was probably only
2 or 3 minutes.   We could see nothing, only hear & imagine what must be
happening.   Finally, all was silent.  We waited.  And searched for signs of any
life.  We saw leaves moving.  Was it the mink or did some of the  rails survive?
 Then we saw 1 adult at the very edge of the  vegetation, & then a glimpse of
1 black fuzz ball.  That is all we  saw.  Never saw the mink again, nor could
we tell if more than 1 chick  survived the attack but we were thankful that
at least 1 did.  But we were  also grateful that we were given the opportunity
to witness this event.  I  love seeing rails but I also get pretty excited on
the even rarer occasions  that I see a mink.   Really understanding the web of
life is an  important part of this "hobby" of ours. Though I think I am also
grateful  that I didn't actually see it happening.

Laura Dornan
Stark County



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