{"id":37038,"date":"2016-03-13T05:51:13","date_gmt":"2016-03-13T12:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=37038"},"modified":"2025-08-26T04:31:36","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T09:31:36","slug":"nonbreeding-sora-in-the-centennial-valley-of-montana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/03\/13\/nonbreeding-sora-in-the-centennial-valley-of-montana\/","title":{"rendered":"Sora In The Centennial Valley Of Montana"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last year I had the pleasure of photographing this Sora in the Centennial Valley of Montana. I normally hear Soras before I spot them but in this case the Sora was out in the open when I spotted it foraging next to some cattails in a farm pond.<\/p>\n

\"SoraSora foraging in a farm pond – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Soras are from the family of birds which includes coots, rails, gallinules, limpkins, and cranes and while the larger species are easy to see the rails and soras are not.<\/p>\n

They can be found in marshes, the edges of ponds, lakes and in shallow wetlands with emergent vegetation and because of their cryptic plumage patterns they blend into their habitat very well.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Sora in Montana – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 500, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

To say I was pleased with finding this Sora out in the open feeding on aquatic vegetation might be an understatement. I was very excited to see and photograph it because I have very few images of this skulking species.<\/p>\n

\"NonbreedingNonbreeding Sora in the Centennial Valley – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I hear Soras quite often during the breeding season at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and Farmington Bay WMA but I have only gotten very briefs views of them.<\/p>\n

Although I love hearing the per-wheep call of Soras it is the whinny<\/span><\/a> that I love to hear the most.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. Life is better with birds.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of Sora photos plus facts and information on this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last year I had the pleasure of photographing this nonbreeding Sora in the Centennial Valley of Montana.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":141083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1513,27,223,12,4970],"tags":[4004,4974,4136,4588,4246,4971,4586,4973],"class_list":["post-37038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-centennial-valley","category-montana","category-soras","tag-adult","tag-farm-pond","tag-foraging","tag-gruiformes","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-porzana-carolina","tag-rails","tag-sora"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sora-montana-mia-mcpherson-3673.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-9Do","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15546,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/08\/03\/foraging-solitary-sandpiper-in-montana\/","url_meta":{"origin":37038,"position":0},"title":"Foraging Solitary Sandpiper in Montana","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"On my recent trip to Idaho and Montana I was delighted to photograph a foraging Solitary Sandpiper in a farm pond in Beaverhead County, MT.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Foraging Solitary Sandpiper, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/solitary-sandpiper-adult-montana-mia-mcpherson-4873.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/solitary-sandpiper-adult-montana-mia-mcpherson-4873.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/solitary-sandpiper-adult-montana-mia-mcpherson-4873.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/solitary-sandpiper-adult-montana-mia-mcpherson-4873.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8700,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/06\/25\/wilsons-phalarope-a-whirligig-bird\/","url_meta":{"origin":37038,"position":1},"title":"Wilson’s Phalarope – A Whirligig Bird","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In early June while in western Montana there was a pair of Wilson's Phalaropes on a small, privately owned pond near a gravel road foraging for prey that I couldn't resist photographing.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Wilson\u2019s Phalarope foraging, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/wilsons-phalarope-mia-mcpherson-4190.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/wilsons-phalarope-mia-mcpherson-4190.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/wilsons-phalarope-mia-mcpherson-4190.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/wilsons-phalarope-mia-mcpherson-4190.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/virginia-rail-mia-mcpherson-9311.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/virginia-rail-mia-mcpherson-9311.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/virginia-rail-mia-mcpherson-9311.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/virginia-rail-mia-mcpherson-9311.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23326,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/05\/09\/a-white-faced-ibis-in-breeding-plumage-at-red-rock-lakes-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":37038,"position":3},"title":"White-faced Ibis in breeding plumage at Red Rock Lakes NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The first bird I photographed on my recent trip to Idaho and Montana was a White-faced Ibis in full breeding plumage.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"White-faced Ibis in breeding plumage at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in the Centennial Valley of Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/white-faced-ibis-lower-lake-mia-mcpherson-4403.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/white-faced-ibis-lower-lake-mia-mcpherson-4403.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/white-faced-ibis-lower-lake-mia-mcpherson-4403.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/white-faced-ibis-lower-lake-mia-mcpherson-4403.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47247,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/06\/11\/male-cassins-finches-foraging-in-beaverhead-county-montana\/","url_meta":{"origin":37038,"position":4},"title":"Male Cassin’s Finches Foraging in Beaverhead County, Montana","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Two years ago today I was in Beaverhead County, Montana photographing Cassin's Finches foraging on the seeds of dandelions on a morning that had sunshine and plenty of fog.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Cassin's Finch foraging for Dandelion seeds, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/cassins-finch-dandelions-mia-mcpherson-0126.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/cassins-finch-dandelions-mia-mcpherson-0126.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/cassins-finch-dandelions-mia-mcpherson-0126.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/cassins-finch-dandelions-mia-mcpherson-0126.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":28213,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/09\/08\/a-lovely-september-afternoon-at-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":37038,"position":5},"title":"Lovely September Afternoon at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I am camping in one of my favorite locations in the world right now, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lovely Afternoon at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife 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