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soras are more widely distributed across the country than other rails, but are probably also the most reclusive... the birders i know speak in reverent tones of sightings where they got a glimpse of one through the reeds. i caught this one crossing a small pond, right out in the open, not 25 feet away! i didn't even know they could swim! this is very possibly a once-in-a-lifetime shot for me... cropped slightly, but not much... 7D, 400mm, 1/800 @ f/5.6.
thanks, Bill. this was pure, dumb luck, i'm afraid... just happened to be in the right place at the right time! i was just standing there, and he popped out of the grass covering what used to be a beaver lodge, and started swimming across a narrow (8 feet or so) stretch of pond. once back ashore, he disappeared into the grasses again, and that was the last i saw of him!
Wow, nice find. An elusive bird and very photogenic, I want to find one. There's sightings ever so often here in NW Oregon, now it's on my radar. Thanks for sharing!
A few years ago on a very cold morning in early December, I hiked down to the edge of the Edmonds marsh from the fish hatchery. A bird suddenly popped out in front of me and quickly ducked back into a nearby bush. It happened so fast that I did not have time to snap a photo. I was new to birding and did not immediately recognize it. From my brief view, it could have been a Virginia rail or a sora.
Here are my only shots of a sora, taken on 9-14-11 at Scriber Lake in Lynnwood, WA. I didn't know what I had photographed until I looked it up in a bird book.
