Hide and Seek continued...

Fortunately, king rails readily respond to calls. A king rail’s repertoire of calls includes a series of loud “keks,” deep grunting sounds, clicks and trills. Listening for responses to electronic calls is how researchers keep track of populations of king rails, and how Department of Conservation wildlife biologists know that king rails’ visits to conservation areas in Missouri are rare.

Called and Failed

I had tried for months to photograph king rails in the wild. I started at B.K. Leach Conservation Area after Brian Loges, a Department wildlife biologist at Elsberry, told me where he’d seen king rails.

Following his advice and directions, I set up in marsh grass with my cameras and called and called and called. Then I called some more from other spots. All to no avail.

For several months, I questioned numerous bird experts about king rails and read several articles about the species. It was frustrating trying to understand the behavior of a bird that I’d never seen.

I didn’t give up, though. One evening after a long day of rain, I sat concealed in smartweed playing my electronic calls.

I started by calling every 10 seconds, then I switched to every 30 seconds. It was quiet, but then suddenly a bird responded with “kek, kek, kek, jupe, jupe, jupe.”

I grabbed my camera and aimed toward the sound. All I could see was thick vegetation.

As I searched, the bird called again, but this time the sound was much louder. I turned my head and saw a male king rail standing no more than 3 feet behind me.

I froze for fear of spooking the bird. It pecked around nearby, even investigating my camera backpack. A female bird later showed up, then the pair chased one another off into the tall vegetation.

I was mad at myself for not being prepared. Because I hadn’t seen king rails the other times, I’d become lax and wasn’t set up and ready for when they finally did appear. In my years of photographing wildlife, this was by far my most embarrassing moment.

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Plants & Animals

About This Article

Author and Photographer

author Department of Conservation photographer NOPPADOL PAOTHONG discovered his love and passion for wildlife photography in college in 1995. Born in Thailand, he came to the United States in 1993 to study graphic art before switching to journalism. He has worked as a full-time photographer at the Joplin Globe and the Springfield News-Leader, and has achieved more than 60 regional and national awards.

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