Hello, everyone,



I just got back from visiting my daughter, an ornithology PhD candidate at
Louisiana State University. On Saturday, we participated in a unique
birding festival in the rice country outside of Jennings. There are no
guarantees in in birding, but this festival is as close as you can get to a
guarantee of seeing Yellow Rails.



It all began when one of the rice farmers gave a bunch of LSU graduate
students permission to look for rails in his fields. It turned out that
four species were present, including LOTS of Yellow Rails, and the idea of a
festival was born. When the fields are harvested, the rails flush from the
rice to marshy areas bordering the fields, and are easy to see both in the
air and on the ground. (This seems to be sustainable for the rails; the
family has been growing rice here for over 60 years.) Festival participants
can watch the rails from the field edges, but everyone also gets a chance to
ride on the big combine. Thanks to my LSU connection I got signed up as an
official volunteer and rail-spotter. This year, the students set up mist
nets to catch some of the rails, so we helped with the nets and banding, and
all the festival participants got to see and photograph the rails up close.



The festival lasts four days, and, in addition to the above, it also offers
field trips to other birding spots and dinners in the evening, some of which
feature Cajun music and dancing. If you think you might want to go on down
to Louisiana for the festival, as well as check out some of the other good
birding spots in the state, visit the website. The festival was a lot of
fun.even my non-birding sister had a great time.



http://www.snowyegretenterprises.com/Snowy_Egret_Enterprises/YRARF_2011.html



Rachel Lawson

rwlawson at q.com