Picture Of The Week 04-23-07

King Rail

Where: Virginia Beach, VA • Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) • Lotus Garden Canal on Sandbridge Road at Back Bay NWR

Notes: Apparently this Rail never heard the expression "thin as a rail"! This bird family is where that phrase originated from. It describes this chicken-like marsh bird's uncanny ability to extremely slender its width, allowing it to move easily between the tight cracks in the marsh grass it inhabits. This photograph was taken on the return trip from an early morning canoe paddle. On past excursions, I had seen other Rail species feeding on open mud flats at low tide and along the marsh grass edges. Usually searching in the early morning, or just before sunset, for food, but this was the first time I'd encountered this very elusive species in clear sight. This King Rail, our largest Rail at about fifteen inches, happened to be foraging on just the opposite side of a large Bald Cypress Tree forty feet away. So I used the tree as a visual block to paddle in closer and then for an anchor for my canoe once I got there. After taking several shots, the bird fluffed itself up and shook (above), as if to shake off the morning cold. I would have never expected to see any Rail turn into such a beach ball!