Mystery Solved

Remember my mystery guest from two posts previous? I found out what his name is. It is:

Sora

Porzana carolina ORDER: GRUIFORMES FAMILY: RALLIDAE

The Sora is the most common rail in North America. It is a freshwater marsh bird, very secretive and difficult to spot.

This link has a photo and a good clip of his strange whinnying call:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/sora/id

I identified him using a Lone Pine book "Birds of Alberta" which is a very good guide. I really like the Lone Pine series for identifying birds and plants.

He does remind me of Feathers McGraw from Wallace & Gromit's The Wrong Trousers. I wonder if he wears a rubber glove on his head as a rooster disguise. I'll have to keep an eye out for trouble in the henhouse.