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:
Cute birds and you got lovely portraits!The first one is my favorite!
Léia
Lovely one...!
Beautiful photos!
nice day, SK
Don't mess with Mama Birds! Glad you had a chance to photograph her...good find for you and for us!
That baby is adorable!
It was so nice to be able to catch a glimpse of these beautiful birds through your blog.
What an interesting bird.
And very beautiful too.
Love that beak!
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
Beautiful pictures of the Virginia rail with her young.
Greetings Irma
Three words...wow, wow, WOW!!!!!
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
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.
what great shots and that is so cute how she yelled at the turtle!
Beautiful bird photos!
What a great find! Terrific captures!
wow! these are great!!! congratulations!
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!
What a great find EG, I can just imagine how thrilled you were. Excellent account of your discovery.
That turtle must have been brave to try to catch that chick. Mama's beak looks like it could so some serious damage!
I love it! There is always a story!!!!
Cheers from Cottage Country!
What lovely pictures.
Great shots.
Fantastic shots and I am so pleased you got to see these beautiful birds within camera range(and us)
Beautiful looking birds, great captures!
That's a great week, nice of mom and her youngsters to pay you a visit. Mom goes through a lot of extra work!
Wonderful captures! I think she's an amazing mom!
Great photos!
That was a really wise way to build and use nests!
Thanks for your comments! /Pia
More good shots for your bird book! ;-))
Great photos, as always! That would have been very interesting to see the turtle trying to get one of the little birds!
Brilliant! As you say EG those rails are so secretive it's good to get a look, never mind a picture or two.
Great photos and how fortunate to see and photograph this rail!
Clever bird and clever you to find them...thanks for sharing..I saw an adult only once in port Arkansas
Very interesting bird!
Well done!
Oops that was supposed to say Port Aransas Texas, spellcheck on my IPad "fixed" it without telling me;)
Awesome photos! You were so lucky to see them!
You need to share the secret of getting all these great bird shots- they are always perfect. Glad she spooked off the turtle!
Awesome! Congratulations! I've never seen one in person. Nice shots!
Great photos! We have these guys down here in Southern California, but I've never taken any photos as good as these of them.
I am very pleased for you, and also very envious, great shots.
All the best Gordon .
They are so pretty!
Exiting find!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
Congrats on your Rail sighting! It is a great bird. Awesome photos, especially the little chick. It is adorable.
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.
great to see!
Lucky you to capture these. I love this last one with her eye on you.
These are fantastic shots and lucky you to get to see them.
Sometimes wild life is smarter than humans.
You find the best bird subject matter!
Wonderful close up shots.
Wow! What a great find, and what great pictures!
Wow, look at those red eyes!
Great shots. The first on, for some unknown reason, reminds me of a South American ant-eater.
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.
Great shots of the lovely bird.
Wowee!! Lucky for you. Very neat pictures. And a baby too. I am glad you were where you were. LOL
MB
Wonderful shots!
Happy WW!
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
Amazing glimpses of this beautiful bird life! Love the feather colours in the first photo.
wow! great catch!
such a beautiful bird- love the photos!
Wow!!! What marvelous images...very wonderful!
great shots. Congrats to the sighting. I was able to see it´s relatives in Sweden last week. I was happy about that too. :)
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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