Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Virginia Rail/Wild Bird

 Virginia rail (Rellus limicola)

I am feeling very lucky this week because not only have I gotten to see and photograph a Virginia rail, I have also...

 Immature Virginia rail

seen and photographed three dark brown (or black) downy chicks!  Virginia rails are normally very secretive and hide amongst the stems of dense vegetation. This one was quietly searching the edges of a marsh when I first spotted her. I couldn't believe she actually walked into the range of my camera lens.

I also saw a turtle try to reach for one of her young'uns. She was furious! She yelled at the turtle for a good three of four minutes.

Adult and immature

Apparently the female builds several "dummy nests" to confuse predators.  She lays her eggs in just one of the nests. That's a clever survival technique!

I am joining Stewart M's Wild Bird Wednesday HERE

62 comments:

Cezar and Léia said...

Cute birds and you got lovely portraits!The first one is my favorite!
Léia

Amazing wonders in my life said...

Lovely one...!

Our photos said...

Beautiful photos!
nice day, SK

Kate said...

Don't mess with Mama Birds! Glad you had a chance to photograph her...good find for you and for us!

Jill said...

That baby is adorable!

aspiritofsimplicity said...

It was so nice to be able to catch a glimpse of these beautiful birds through your blog.

Lisa Gordon said...

What an interesting bird.
And very beautiful too.
Love that beak!

MadSnapper said...

that first photo shows his wonderful colors so well. and to think that downy litle plain jane baby will grow up to look like daddy... so sweet to see the little ones

Irma said...

Beautiful pictures of the Virginia rail with her young.
Greetings Irma

Hootin Anni said...

Three words...wow, wow, WOW!!!!!

Darla said...

You were really clever to capture these photo's. I didn't know a turtle would get into the birds next. Good think the mother was on lookout.

Darla

DeniseinVA said...

She's a clever mommy isn't she? Marvelous photos, I can only imagine the excitement you felt when you first saw these delightful birds.

Tanya Breese said...

what great shots and that is so cute how she yelled at the turtle!

Birgitta said...

Beautiful bird photos!

Karen said...

What a great find! Terrific captures!

TexWisGirl said...

wow! these are great!!! congratulations!

Lowell said...

How do you get some of these shots? I'm impressed! I can't even find a common sparrow to photograph!

Re your comment on Ocala: And my teachers said I had no imagination. No wait, they said I had too much of an imagination and imagination wasn't going to get me through school. Well, I fooled them. I got through school and more! Imagine that!

PerthDailyPhoto said...

What a great find EG, I can just imagine how thrilled you were. Excellent account of your discovery.

Judy said...

That turtle must have been brave to try to catch that chick. Mama's beak looks like it could so some serious damage!

Jenn Jilks said...

I love it! There is always a story!!!!
Cheers from Cottage Country!

Anonymous said...

What lovely pictures.

John @ Beans and I on the Loose said...

Great shots.

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

Fantastic shots and I am so pleased you got to see these beautiful birds within camera range(and us)

Anonymous said...

Beautiful looking birds, great captures!

Wayne said...

That's a great week, nice of mom and her youngsters to pay you a visit. Mom goes through a lot of extra work!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful captures! I think she's an amazing mom!

i stora drag said...

Great photos!
That was a really wise way to build and use nests!
Thanks for your comments! /Pia

RedPat said...

More good shots for your bird book! ;-))

Esther Joy said...

Great photos, as always! That would have been very interesting to see the turtle trying to get one of the little birds!

Phil Slade said...

Brilliant! As you say EG those rails are so secretive it's good to get a look, never mind a picture or two.

mick said...

Great photos and how fortunate to see and photograph this rail!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Clever bird and clever you to find them...thanks for sharing..I saw an adult only once in port Arkansas

Modesto Viegas said...

Very interesting bird!
Well done!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Oops that was supposed to say Port Aransas Texas, spellcheck on my IPad "fixed" it without telling me;)

Unknown said...

Awesome photos! You were so lucky to see them!

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

You need to share the secret of getting all these great bird shots- they are always perfect. Glad she spooked off the turtle!

Brian King said...

Awesome! Congratulations! I've never seen one in person. Nice shots!

Pat Tillett said...

Great photos! We have these guys down here in Southern California, but I've never taken any photos as good as these of them.

Gordon said...

I am very pleased for you, and also very envious, great shots.
All the best Gordon .

cieldequimper said...

They are so pretty!

Unknown said...

Exiting find!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

eileeninmd said...

Congrats on your Rail sighting! It is a great bird. Awesome photos, especially the little chick. It is adorable.

Ruth Hiebert said...

WOW!!! This is truly amazing,to first see a Rail and then to be able to get such good pictures. Might be a once in a lifetime experience,is my guess.

Carole M. said...

great to see!

Stephanie said...

Lucky you to capture these. I love this last one with her eye on you.

Carver said...

These are fantastic shots and lucky you to get to see them.

LV said...

Sometimes wild life is smarter than humans.

Michelle said...

You find the best bird subject matter!

Randy said...

Wonderful close up shots.

The Furry Gnome said...

Wow! What a great find, and what great pictures!

Anonymous said...

Wow, look at those red eyes!

Arija said...

Great shots. The first on, for some unknown reason, reminds me of a South American ant-eater.

Faye said...

Lucky you to be at the right spot at the right time--with camera. Such wonderful soft coloring in the mature bird. The young is very awkward and endearing looking.

Rajesh said...

Great shots of the lovely bird.

Small City Scenes said...

Wowee!! Lucky for you. Very neat pictures. And a baby too. I am glad you were where you were. LOL
MB

Indrani said...

Wonderful shots!
Happy WW!

Stewart M said...

Great pictures! Rail are birds that I hear more often than I see.

But some days they seem to have their "brave heads" on and spend lots of time in the open. Strange.

Cheers and thanks for linking to WBW

Stewart M - Melbourne

Gemma Wiseman said...

Amazing glimpses of this beautiful bird life! Love the feather colours in the first photo.

Betty Manousos said...

wow! great catch!
such a beautiful bird- love the photos!

Mary Howell Cromer said...

Wow!!! What marvelous images...very wonderful!

NatureFootstep said...

great shots. Congrats to the sighting. I was able to see it´s relatives in Sweden last week. I was happy about that too. :)

Rose said...

I should say you are lucky! And not only did you get to photograph them...you got wonderful shots! Sometimes when I come upon a good opportunity, I get so excited I cannot hold the camera still!

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East Gwillimbury is a rural town less than an hour north of Toronto, Canada's largest city. My family calls me CameraGirl because I take my camera with me wherever I go.