Took the trip from Grove City to Charlies pond southwest of circleville. (for directions see previous posts) Arrived about 8 PM and met Mary Faruque from Akron who had been there since around 4:30 PM and had heard the Black Rail multiple times but had not seen him. The calls were from the south side of the road and very close to the berm area. Over the next 20 min the bird called once, Mary left and about 8:30 Burt Miller arrived. He is the son of the land owner and we had a long talk. He was interested in the Rail and I hauled out my trusty Kaufman guide (thanks Kenn) and showed him what we were looking for. He was also concerned as he and his dad have seen several people trespassing out in the field and even wading in the wetland area. I assured him that there was no one out there now and that all the information I had received from the internet had clearly stated to stay on the road or the short grassy berm and definitely not to trespass. His dad was also initially not happy that the bird info was on the internet but was OK with it now. The farmers in the area are somewhat sensitive to increased attention to the "Charlies Pond" area. Several years ago "Ducks Unlimited" had tried to "take over" a large chunk of prime farmland including and surrounding Charlies pond. So he said they were somewhat suspicious of anything or anyone having to do with birds. About this time my prayers were answered when the Black Rail started calling just to our left and moved calling all the time to about 20 feet to our right. We never saw the bird but did see the grass move as it traveled. I told Burt that he was one of the few people in Ohio that had heard the Black Rail. He was happy and so was I. Burt left and I heard the Bird call two more times over the next 10 minutes. Saw a great sunset and left about 9;20 PM. I know no one on this list would trespass but if you are in the area and see someone where they are not supposed to be, call them on it. We must police ourselves if we are to continue to be welcome in this area. I will be faxing Burt more info about the Black Rail and the list-serve as well. It was a great night Phillip North. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]