Ridgway's Rail

Near Palo Alto, in the marshes around San Francisco Bay.  A rare and difficult to photograph bird. My friend Andrea Jones, who is in charge of bird conservation in California for the National Audubon Society regularly uses this image in presentations (she says it's the best she's seen of the species).

Posted on 16 May 2016, after an excellent presentation  by Andrea to our local Hampshire Bird Club on her work in California. Here is a much more recent photo of Ridgway's rail, from last August in southern California.