Struttin' Virginia Rail

[Daniel Cadieux]

A spot very close to home (walking distance) is always very good at this time of year before the very tall grasses grow to unwanderable heights. The spring flood waters have just now started to receed leaving open and flattened areas of dry grass. One of the best spots in town for rails ;-) Put on the rubber boots and wade away!! At one point I had 2 Virginia Rails and a Sora all within eyesight...not bad for such secretive species:D

Canon 40D + 100-400L @400mm, 1/250s., f/7.1, ISO500, +1 EC, natural light, handheld, 90% full frame. Top left corner darkened. Base of bill and top of front leg/toe desaturated. Also desat the yellows in the new grass as they were an unatural ugly "neon" green/yellow.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w98/dancad/tn_VirginiaRail_0805-01.jpg

[Alfred Forns]

Love the pose with the raised foot and seeing him out in the open !!!! Sure wish you had a little more shutter speed to render the rear foot sharp.

I like the idea of Peter wast trying to do but would like something closer to the original Excellent capture !!!!

[Harold Davis]

i do like the bird in the original, but i like the blurring in the repost. nice job getting one of these out in the open!!!

[Gayle Clement]

These are such elusive birds. It's nice to get him in the open. I agree Harold. The bird has good true color in the original and the additional blur in the repost works well.

[Judd Patterson]

Sweet image Daniel...looks like you have a big winner here! I've never had a good view of this species, so I'm quite jealous of your spot! :) I like the overall image with the sense of movement. I would also urge you to continue to work this species to see what new compositions you can discover (I'm sure that's part of your plan!)

[Glenn Bartley]

Very nice image Dan. Anytime you get a clean look at these guys you are in good fortune.

[Doug Brown]

Congrats Daniel on a nice photo of a rail! If it were me, I'd blur and darken the foreground a bit and try to minimize the visual impact of the two twigs to the left of the bird.

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

I really like the repost,great pose and nice colors!

[Arthur Morris]

Way wicked. I love the soft light and the bird on the pile. When I opened this one I said, "Whoa." I like the lighter bird and the blurred BKGR. Superb even with the partially focused BKGR grasses.

Did you use a tape or did they just love you?

[Freddy Franzella]

I know how hard it is to get these guys! I would like just a slight head turn. overall cool image!!

[Stephen Stephen]

Beautiful capture Dan. It looks like you place is better than the one we've been visiting the past couple of weeks. I'm still hoping to a a Sora to my life list.

[Paul Lagasi]

Good shot Dan..there's quite a few at J.P., color rendition of bird is like a drawing from Sibley's..Dave told me about seeing you there....Paul

[Daniel Cadieux]

Did you use a tape or did they just love you?

Yes and no:D I was using a tape (mp3) on a Swamp Sparrow...and unbeknown to me I was sitting mere feet from a pair of Rails that startled me with their sudden call from under some grasses and both popped right up. I did lure them back with a recording after this image was created, but not as lucky with cluttered BGs.

Paul, I did see some at J.P. but these are in the east end of the city...

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks for the info Daniel. IAC, you created a wonderful image of a difficult species.