The Black Rail was calling sporadically this evening from about 7:00 until 8:30. Nine people heard the rail from the south side of Radcliffe Road. At times it sounded very close (within 5-10 feet from the road but hidden in vegetation). Then it would sound quite distant as if it was 30-50 feet away. At one point, several of us thought we were hearing two separate rails calling from a great distance apart. Regarding the neighbor (?property owner?), a man on a riding mower was trimming the edge of the vegetation near the closest house. The rail actually starting calling as the mower got a little closer! But the person on the mower NEVER came very close to us. Someone in the group mentioned he had earlier asked directions from the neighbor: my impression of his story was the homeowner was working outside at the time. I don't recall hearing the word "irate" in the tale... perhaps the neighbor was just trying to get chores done on a very hot evening! RUTS: I initially drove past Charlie's Pond because I did not see where people had been pulling over along the side of the road. When I found the correct location, I parked UPHILL and west of the wet area and walked back. I did notice a few areas depressed by tires, but none of the "ruts" looked more than a half an inch deep, if that. But as previously posted by others, consideration of potential tire tracks is in order. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]