Saturday, September 21, 2024

Virginia in north brooklyn

Check your doorways!

Virginia Rail (Rallus limicola) (1)
- Reported Sep 20, 2024 19:04 by Jay Gershkowitz
- 3 Ridgewood Place, Kings, New York
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=40.698868,-73.911373&ll=40.698868,-73.911373
- Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S195849594
- Media: 2 Photos
- Comments: "Utterly shocking to see this bird on a regular Bushwick street. I caught a brief glimpse of this small bird (approx 7" long). I quickly got out my phone and snapped a few pics. The bird was standing in a puddle formed by a leak that comes from a local supermarket, whose source is unknown but i have always thought it might be meltwater from the fish counter on the other side of the wall. The bird quickly darted into some tall overgrown weeds and was not seen or heard again despite my lingering and looking for another 10 minutes. The shape/silhouette and size of the bird lead me to believe it was a Virginia Rail although smaller than I would have expected. The bird was fairly dark rather than bright orange, but noting also it was seen at dusk. The long downturned bill was not bright orange and all these clues are perhaps indicative of a juvenile. Uploading cell phone pics immediately."

Clever man is a chicken; it can fly, but a little. Genius, on the other hand, is a migratory bird; it can fly at high altitudes until He disappears on the horizon!

--Mehmet Murat Ildan