Posted by Brian Rapoza on January 01, 1970 at 00:00:00
Obviously Barry, I wasn't there to see what you saw; I can only go by the evidence you've presented. Your photo markup is intriguing yet inconclusive, in my view. I also note that you've changed your description of the secondaries, from "light yellow secondary feathers" to "white or very pale yellow secondary feathers." What I do know is that there are Eastern Meadowlarks in the grass along that road; I've flushed them many times when driving along the road in August/September. When they flush, they often fly "with a few shallow rapid beats alternating with short glides," exactly as you described the flight of your birds. What I also know is that the grassy areas along that road would be a very unexpected place to find Yellow Rails.