Today Jack Stenger and I visited Big Island for the anniversary of our Hudsonian Godwit last year. We did not find our bird, but came up with several consolation prizes. Highlights below: Mystery Rail: Jack and I separately witnessed two different rails. My bird flushed close by and was in flight for approximately 4 seconds, and fairly close. The bird was overall very mottled and brown/yellowish/gray. The head had no traces of black markings like that of a Sora, and I am pretty confident my bird was not a Sora. I have had experience with this species in the past, and the bird I saw was noticeably smaller, and not of the right plumage/color of even a juvenile. It was approximately the size of a Red-winged Blackbird with the tail cut off, but much chunkier. There was an overall yellowish wash to the bird, and again, everything was mottled. The bird dropped down, and I immediately walked over to the area in attempt of another flush, but never saw the bird again. Jack had a similar experience. We are cautious in calling the bird a Yellow Rail because of our complete lack of experience with the species, and the fact that neither one of us saw the supposed obvious white wing patches. However, this field mark was not looked for during both of our sightings. Shorebirds, found throughout the impoundments just north of 95 and Larue-Prospect: Killdeer Black-bellied Plover- 1 Lesser Yellowlegs Spotted Sandpiper- 1 Semipalmated Sandpiper- 2 Least Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper- 1 Stilt Sandpiper- 1 Long-billed Dowitcher- 2 Wilson's Snipe Marsh Wren- 7, found throughout the western impoundments north of Larue Prospect Lincoln's Sparrow- 7, edges of impoundments Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow- 2+, a few Ammodramus sparrows were kicked up in the impoundments north of Larue Prospect, but we could only positively identify two of them as Nelson's Good birding, Sean -- Sean Williams, '11 Undergraduate of Ornithology of Dr. Jed Burtt Ohio Wesleyan University HWCC 724 Delaware, OH 43015 617-470-4094 ______________________________________________________________________ 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]