Virginia Rail

These birds are very hard to see... unless... you lure them with the siren sound of another Virginia Rail. I heard that a local birder had managed to entice one to come close to him by playing his bird app. Turns out I have that app too so this evening I gave it a try. Voila. Soon I could hear this fellow singing his heart out. I couldn't see him, but I could hear him. I kept playing the lady rail's voice back to him and finally I spied him in the reeds by the pond. He even came out and ran across the trail but unfortunately the photos I took then were blurry because I had the camera on manual focus to pick him out among the greenery. So this is not a master photograph, but it is a Virginia Rail, a bird I've been trying to photograph for some time.

This afternoon my friend Anna and I went to see a play at the Theater Guild in Bellingham called "Noises Off." It was a farce about putting on a play, and they did a fantastic job. There was a whole lot of things happening that had to be perfectly timed, people coming in and out of doors and not meeting, back stage shenanigans while the play was going on in front (actually behind because we were "backstage.") Very complex and their timing was impeccable. And Anna and I had a bunch of good belly laughs and enjoyed the play a great deal. It was just what the two of us needed today.

Afterwards we went to Boundary Bay for an early dinner. I had Yam-Ale-Cheladas, a favorite of mine and Anna had a lovely small salad. It was the perfect way to have a happy time together.

When I got home I went for a walk in the park. And that's where I enticed the Virginia Rail to come out and get his picture taken. A lovely day all round.