Families: Rallidae, Aramidae, Gruidae
These families include 14 species found in North America. All of them inhabit marsh wetlands where they consume vegetation and small animals but the feeding habits vary greatly. Cranes are often seen due in part to their size but Limpkins are secretive and solitary, rails and soras are skulkers and secretive where coots and gallinules are often found in the open.
In the meantime I am Limpkin along.
A few days ago I saw quite a few Sandhill Cranes starting at just past the Visitors Center for Bear River National Wildlife Refuge, in one of the farmer's fields I saw 11 of them feeding in the freshly tilled soil.
American Coots aren't thought of as "gorgeous" birds but I do find them appealing and a challenge to expose properly because of the high contrast between the very dark feathers and the whiteness of the ivory colored bill.
This time of the year I start dreaming about the Centennial Valley of Montana and of the birds that call the valley home during the summer.
I haven't had many opportunities to photograph the Harlan's subspecies of the Red-tailed Hawk so I was thrilled yesterday when I spotted a juvenile dark morph Harlan's Hawk feeding on a dead American Coot on the bank of a creek.
Looking at the huge lobed feet of American Coots is enough to make me laugh. Yesterday I just could not resist these birds.
Three years ago today though the ground was covered in drifts of snow, the temps were below freezing, there was ice on the ponds & lakes and there was a sharp briskness to the air that can only be found in winter.
So, each time we see or hear Sandhill Cranes we are listening to and looking at a real living fossil.
The temps are dropping here in the Salt Lake Valley, two days ago it was below freezing when we went out shooting. Winter brings challenges and birds we don't see during the summer so I am excited about that.
Not that long ago Common Gallinules (Gallinula galeata) were called Common Moorhens (Gallinula chloropus), it will take me some time to get used to the new name.
I don't have much time to post today but I wanted to share a few photos taken this week of the mists at the Lower Lake of Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana. Red Rock Lakes NWR is an incredibly wild and beautiful location that has stolen a piece of my heart.
Some images are simply too funny not to share. Even with those huge feet this American Coot (Fulica americana) couldn't stay in top of the ice at a pond near where I live in Salt Lake County, Utah.
American Coots are the most widely distributed members of the Rail family in North America and are very abundant in habitats with open water.
Limpkins may not be as beautifully colored as a Roseate Spoonbill or as common as Sandhill Cranes in Florida but to me they are uniquely interesting and appealing birds.
These are just a small selection of the cast and characters of the upcoming Spring Season