The Purple Gallinule is not particularly a hard bird to see. You just have to be in the right place in its limited range at the right time. It is just that I never seem to be there. I saw a male in Florida on my first birding trip there 11 years ago, and a female two trips back, but other than that…nada. So to say that I was excited to see one at the Smith’s Oaks rookery on High Island Texas is an understatement. I got some shots of it peaking and poking among the vegitation, but just before I left, it popped up on top for just a few seconds and I got off a few full body shots. I did not have time, even, to shift the camera out of flight mode, so the rapidly moving bird is not tack sharp. Not the best, but my best so far!

Olympus OM-D E-M10 with 75-300mm zoom. 600mm equivalent. ISO 400 @ 1/250th @ f6.7. Processed in Snapseed on my tablet.