My Little Fren!

Since I first saw this bird - or his parent or grandparent - three years ago (?) I have looked for it anxiously whenever we return. A trip to Chincoteague would no longer be right without at least one sighting of *my* clapper rail. Yesterday (first day) and today when we rode our bikes to the beach it was low tide, and I knew that meant the chance to see the rail was good because that's when it's poking around in the mud under the pedestrian bridge where it seems to hunt regularly. There are LOTS of fiddler crabs there at low tide. Anyway - I didn't see it going in either direction yesterday. And I didn't see it on the way out this morning. And then we left almost as soon as we reached the beach because it started to rain, and as I crossed over that little bridge overlook thingy on the way back I heard a bird. So I stopped, and when the bird suddenly got louder I took out my phone and opened up the Merlin Sound ID app thing and it said "clapper rail!" Whee! I rolled my bike back to where the sound was coming from and there s/he was! YAY! I can now relax for the rest of our time here. And hope I see it again, of course.