A Sunday Evening Surprise

Before you go on see if you can guess what this bird is from this angle. I hate to admit it but sometimes this is the best look I get at a bird. If you don't want to play the game just scroll down and see what I stumbled onto.






After having a family get together on Sunday I got a couple of hours to myself to get out birding after a week of cold, drizzly weather. Sunday evening was gorgeous. No wind, warm and sunny. It couldn't have been better. As I was scanning birds at one of the best wetlands in the area, I looked down at the edge of the water just below my feet and saw a small bird skulking in the dead vegetation.

This Sora Rail was absolutely cavalier to my presence. I got out the camera and started shooting. I must have spent 20 minutes watching this bird and only stopped taking pictures when the light started to fade.


I was really taken aback by the colors of this bird. The blue edging on the back feathers was stunning.The markings on it's side and head were something I hadn't had a chance to study before. There was a point where I thought the bird might be sick or injured because it showed no reaction to me. I've decided it just had other priorities. It just kept hunting along the water's edge and from what I saw was finding plenty to eat.


There were other nice birds at the site like Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Vesper Sparrow, a nice variety of ducks and a singing Meadowlark on a power line. Water levels have finally risen in the area wetlands so there should be good habitat available for birds throughout the summer.

The weather is going to deteriorate the next 2 days so anything that is around will probably stick around for a while. It seems like spring will never arrive!