Off the rails

A rail is a secretive bird that's kind of half-way between a duck and a chicken. It lives in the marshes, and it's seldom seen. The most common of several types of rails in US is a Clapper Rail. Another species is a King Rail - much more rare, and not usually seen this far north.

For the past several years, there has been a King Rail in a nature preserve in Bayonne. Since it's the only one for dozens of miles around, it has a Clapper Rail for a mate. Here they are - the King is on the left, and the Clapper is on the right:


Here is the King Rail again - cleaning its wings:


The Clapper Rail is similar, but lighter in color. It lives exclusively in saltwater marshes.


King Rail normally lives in freshwater marshes. The marsh in Bayonne is brackish - tidal - which makes the appearance of this bird even more unusual.


Clapper Rail:


Close-up of the King Rail:


And now some more pictures from the spring migration:

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher on the nest:


Baltimore Oriole nest - it's always on the edge of a branch, so the squirrels can't get to it.


Bluejay nest in Central Park:


Here, you can even see one of their chicks popping up:


Pheasant in a central NJ state park:




Golden-winged Warbler:


Baltimore Oriole:


Ruby-throated Hummingbird:


Northern Flicker. There are flickers on both sides of US. The ones on the east coast are called yellow-shafted - to understand why, check the color of its under-tail. (The ones on the west coast are red-shafted.)


Chipmunkbird:


Painted turtle in Central Park:


And a bullfrog in Sterling Forest, NY: