Ridgways’ Rail Release and Monitoring

Three radio-tagged Ridgways Rails were released at Buena Vista Lagoon July 6. They will be monitored via radio telemetry for two months by BVAS volunteers. These birds are listed as Endangered, and historically have lived in the BV Lagoon although numbers have dwindled over the years. They live and breed in the very type of habitat that the BV Lagoon offers-coastal wetland habitat. The release location was off the east end of the Nature Center’s nature trail.

July 7 update: Two of the Rails haven’t strayed too far from where they were released. One is near the bridge along the NC trail, and the other is in the reeds close to the eastern view deck along the trial. The third Rail, however, is on the move! On this morning’s survey, we found him on the WEST side of So. Coast Hwy., right across the street from the Nature Center. He’s in the reeds right next to the edge of the property that BVAS acquired in January. It’s almost as if he knows we bought that land just for him!