Just getting time to go thru pictures from the summer, Rails are one of my favorite birds to photograph as they are fairly secretive and live in the thick slough grasses. Patience is the key (and lots of big spray) to find and photograph these birds.

Cool pics. Jonathan would be proud.

Props

X2

Great pics

They have a season on these in MN, Virginia and Sora Rails. Are they actually good to eat?
Really cool birds.
And yes, Jonathan would have been proud. Thank you and keep up the good work.

I know several states allow hunting of rails, would think it would be really difficult to get them out of the marshes.
No idea how they would taste.

Good job Tray. What is your camera setup and lenses? I suspect those rails took a lot of patience and perseverance. Good on ya!

Jack

Thanks, My camera is a Nikon D500 with a Sigma 150-600mm lens.

The first picture you can see a mosquito chasing it.
Rails are interesting birds to catch with rolled oats and band.

Hunting is in the wild rice flats with punts
8 inch 2x4" blocks of painted wood are thrown to where you think the downed bird fell.
up and down in 50 feet so fast shooting action

[quote=Northof50]The first picture you can see a mosquito chasing it.
Rails are interesting birds to catch with rolled oats and band.

Hunting is in the wild rice flats with punts
8 inch 2x4" blocks of painted wood are thrown to where you think the downed bird fell.
up and down in 50 feet so fast shooting action [/quote

That’s interesting info on how they are hunted, I knew they could be but have never heard how it was done. Do the birds feed on the oats? Walk-in traps?

Great photos..The chicks, when first hatched, look like black ping-pong balls. They're teeny!

The birds do move to the rice crops come August.
if you have ever been in a air boat picking in the rice...it can get interesting.....kamakassii pilots they can be.

in the punts the front gunner has all the action as the rear pusher is to mark the hit -and-fall that's when you throw the block to where you think the bird is. It takes quite a bit to turn in a heavy stand so the block really helps.
I have very rarely flushed then when snipe hunting on the flats of the marsh,

the oat baiting has to be put out at evening cause the black birds can clean the piles fast. Drop traps are used for capture, muskrat runs in shallow water are the target area

very outstanding photo's....Hope Paul elevates your profile.

Nice

Yes they are delicious, I used to hunt them on our old farm, after the shot is when the fun begins if you don’t have a dog to find them for you cause they can just disappear in the marsh grass

They remind me of woodcock which I've tried and didn't care for.

Had Great day of fun hunting them once in the wild rice beds edging the upper Miss. As they are migratory and leave MN early and often not found in numbers in many areas where they can be most often 'Flushed" for a shot they are not often targeted on purpose. Pretty easy shooting if you find them.

Did you try the breasts AND the legs??
Very different flavors!

I find it interesting that you guys have the opportunity to hunt them, even if we had a season here I think they would be very difficult to flush. Their main habitat here is large cattails sloughs that have water in them, when pressured the birds seldom flush but just run deep into the cattails.
I do laugh every time I see one fly as I wonder how in the heck they can migrate very far, very poor flyers.

When I was surveying woodcock through Manitoba I was doing evening and sunrise surveys and driving between the spots. Stopping between sites it was interesting to hear overhead birds fly and call and ground birds would reply. The 7-15 May is a major migration in Manitoba. That time period not many birders have sampled in that time period, it was an eye opener all the rail species calling.
With dark breast muscles think the other way about being poor flyers.
I think some of the GpS woodcock tracking has them doing 5 mph in head winds in migration. They always seem to be going 100 mph when they flush from me.

I am just finishing my railbird skiff for next season, we get a few virgins around mostly soras in the freshwater meadows and clappers in the salt water tide meadows,