Virginia Rail: Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, Oak Harbor, Ohio, USA, May 2023 — Yes, Magee Marsh’s very own Virginia Rail. When I got to Ohio, a pair of them were building a nest in a crushed patch of reeds only about 15 feet from the boardwalk at the east end…well in under the reeds so you only saw them when the made runs for nesting material. By the 3rd day they were on the nest, and you had to catch either the male of the female out on a foraging expedition which were more infrequent and less predicable than the nesting material runs had been. Given that all this as happening in and under the thick brush right against the boardwalk, getting a photo was not easy. 🙂 This is the best I could do in several attempts. There was one guy who was camped out at the spot with a Canon 800mm lens and massive monopod for most of two days. I am pretty sure he got better shots. 🙂 OM Systems OM-1 with 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving birds modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro. ISO 800 @ f6.3 @ 1/500th. -.3EV.