ML349341121

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Media notes

terrible photo....

Observation details

At least 3 out of 4 responded with typical grunt calls to PB and these were on the inland side of the tributary to Marsh Creek. One of the 3 was observed as it came out to look at us (or the rail making the calls!), and also responded to my vocalization using the "3-stoogies Curly" call. The fourth was on the river side close to where phragmites started and only responded with repeated "ki-dek"s for several minutes (heard as we departed and later when were in Marsh Creek half way to Little Marsh Creek). The VIRA habitat here was different from the typical Choptank R marsh habitats we encountered today. It consisted of low to middle sized bushes (1-3 feet) with a broad-leaf grass type (12-24 inches) interspersed throughout. The bushes made up about 40% of the habitat area. There were irregular openings and spacings between the plants (which had root clumps; the tide was starting to fall) that the rail we observed would walk through. The size of the habitat was limited, probably no more than 2 acres and closer to 1 acre. In contrast, mainly tall (3 to 7 feet) phragmites dominated the balance of this marsh and the MAWR and Red-winged BBs used these phragmites areas - we did not observe wrens or blackbirds in the VIRA habitat. Interestingly, towards drier land where the bushes got bigger and where trees began, sang the Song Sparrow.

Technical information

Model

NIKON D7100

Lens

200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

ISO

720

Focal length

350 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/400 sec

Dimensions

2095 pixels x 1397 pixels

Original file size

3.29 MB