Yesterday, 2-3-2001, my wife and I assisted Don Bottles in the yearly
maintenance of a series of wood duck boxes on the lower Skagit estuary
(Freshwater Slough, etc.). In the first box I examined I found a recently
deceased adult Virginia Rail. The box was mounted on an alder, a good 10-12
feet over the average high water line and at least 8 feet from solid ground.
I didn't examine it too closely, but there didn't appear to be any obvious
signs of trauma. "The Birder's Handbook" (Ehrlich, etc.) says that these
birds nest on the ground (possibly also on floating vegetation like a
Sora?). I was quite surprised to find this bird in a wood duck box. Has
anyone ever seen a Rail of any type in a cavity of any kind? Any guesses as
to why it may have visited the cavity?
The bird was given to a retired vet who does work on birds and he is
sending it to a federal biologist. I'll pass along anything I find out.

-Ed Kane

Ed & Grace
kane3d2001 at yahoo.com


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