Into the great unknown

This young Sora was, I would guess, somewhere between a week and 10 days old? Such a funny little thing - I'd never seen a young one before. Just like its parents, it wasn't easy to photograph in amongst the Cattails and other water plants. Managed to shoot this photo just in time to get the whole bird without any stem across its little body. They move constantly - and fast! Photo taken on 28 July 2014, when I drove SE of the city, mainly to escape from the heat of my house for a few hours. Frank Lake was my first stop and then I drove around the lake and further eastwards. Saw quite a few birds on this trip, including quite a nice look at a single White-faced Ibis in a small slough. It was interesting to watch it feeding in amongst a family of American Avocets. Other birds seen that afternoon/evening included a Western Kingbird (yet again, couldn't get a decent shot), a Western Meadowlark, a couple of Swainson's Hawks perched on tall power lines, Black-necked Stilts too far away, Phalaropes, a couple of Eared Grebes, Barn Swallow, and a Gray Partridge that quickly disappeared into the tall grasses.

"A small, secretive bird of freshwater marshes, the Sora is the most common and widely distributed rail in North America. Its distinctive descending whinny call can be easily heard from the depths of the cattails, but actually seeing the little marsh-walker is much more difficult." From AllAboutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/sora/id

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sora_(bird)