{"id":67817,"date":"2020-04-04T06:24:23","date_gmt":"2020-04-04T12:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=67817"},"modified":"2021-10-16T17:20:14","modified_gmt":"2021-10-16T23:20:14","slug":"virginia-rails-marsh-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/04\/04\/virginia-rails-marsh-birds\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Rails – Marsh Birds"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"VirginiaVirginia Rail out in an open area of a marsh \u2013 Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 450, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m not getting out into the field like I would on a normal year because of the Covid-19 pandemic but I have thousands of images that have never been seen here before on my blog or in my galleries.<\/p>\n

Today I wanted to focus on Virginia Rails because I don’t find them out in the open very often, they are such secretive marsh birds. Typically I only hear Virginia Rails calling<\/span><\/a> and singing<\/span><\/a> and when I do see them I barely catch a glimpse of them before they disappears into the marshes.<\/p>\n

I took all of these Virginia Rail photos at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> in August of 2015. There were several days during that time where I found these rails out in the open that summer and I took advantage of the opportunities they gave me.<\/p>\n

I remember holding my breath when I first spotted the Virginia Rail in the photo above because I fully expected it to turn and dash into the vegetation of the marsh and when it walked out into the open I finally exhaled.<\/p>\n

\"VirginiaVirginia Rail walking in a marsh \u2013 Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve learned over the years that if I want to see and photograph rails I need to drive very slowly on the auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

Because these rails blend into their habitat so well and driving quickly means I’ll miss spotting them. By driving slowly I can pick up on their movements in the vegetation. They certainly aren’t as easy to spot as some of the birds on the marsh that stay out in the open more often but by taking my time and listening for their calls, I can locate them.<\/p>\n

But I do have to say that whether I get a photo of them or not depends on how fast they disappear into the marsh and how fast I can get my camera to focus on them.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Virginia Rail foraging in water \u2013 Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

So whenever I find Virginia Rails out in the open like I did these birds I feel like I won a small prize in a lottery or hit a nice jackpot on a slot machine.<\/p>\n

I heard a few Virginia Rail calling the last time I was at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge but I didn’t catch sight of any of them.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. Stay safe.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Today I wanted to focus on Virginia Rails because I don’t find them out in the open very often, they are such secretive marsh birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,27,1148,26,4582],"tags":[4004,2304,4136,4109,4094,9486,9105,9485,4585,4586,4584,9484,5050,6917,4583,3996,3485,4095],"class_list":["post-67817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","category-virginia-rails","tag-adult","tag-calls","tag-foraging","tag-grasses","tag-marsh","tag-marshbirds","tag-marshy","tag-open-area","tag-rail","tag-rails","tag-rallus-limicola","tag-secretive","tag-songs","tag-vegetation","tag-virginia-rail","tag-water","tag-wetland","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/virginia-rail-adult-foraging-marsh-mia-mcpherson-1906.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-hDP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28028,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/08\/31\/a-virginia-rail-and-its-reflection\/","url_meta":{"origin":67817,"position":0},"title":"Adult Virginia Rail And Its Reflection","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 31, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I am always thrilled when a Virginia Rail comes out into the open because typically they are shy, secretive marsh birds.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Virginia Rail and its reflection at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/virginia-rail-adult-mia-mcpherson-1903.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-adult-mia-mcpherson-1903.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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