I was curious to know if anyone has been down to check on the Black Rail lately. Are birds still being heard? The average peak of completed clutches for eastern populations is June 20th...according to the Birds of North America account. Unfortunately, the data set was too small to get at geographic variation with egg laying dates...Incubation takes approximately 20 days. If, indeed, there is a Black Rail pair nesting successfully at Charlie's Pond right now, might we see chicks sometime in July? There is wide variation in the phenology of their vocalizations but their calling frequency peaks from May through late-June. So, if birds are still present and tending a nest, we may not hear them much anymore if ever again this season. Other calls given can be described as the following..."Highly agitated birds utter 'Growl' vocalization, described as grr-grr-grr, a repetitive brrrr, or churr-churr-churr" We would be interested in anyone's observations of the Circleville Black Rails. The Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas website now has an electronic Rare Species Documentation form. If everyone could fill out one of these forms detailing your individual Black Rail observations, we would greatly appreciate it! The form can be found at http://www.ohiobirds.org/obba2/rarespecies.php If anyone is interested in re-visiting the Black Rail site and would like to do some additional atlasing while in that area, please let me know and I can direct you to some priority blocks that still need survey coverage. Just last week, I was in the area and covered a priority block that produced 68 species in a single morning. Highlights were Sedge Wren, Dickcissel, Blue Grosbeak, and Black Vulture (at a nest). Good birding everyone! Aaron -- Aaron Boone Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II School of Environment & Natural Resources The Ohio State University 210 Kottman Hall 2021 Coffey Road Columbus, OH 43210-1085 614.247.6458 (office) www.ohiobirds.org/obba2/ ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]