Virginia Rail at Smithsonian, August 4
David Bridge (David@simsc.si.edu)
Tue, 4 Aug 98 18:51:13
The Virginia Rail is still at the Smithsonian on August 4.
11:00 - 11:30am.
I watched the Va. Rail at the northwest corner of the Museum of African
Art for this half hour. It was catching and eating small insects, most
too small for me to identify. I did observe it catch and eat two
earthworms. It spent the majority of this half hour feeding, rarely
hiding in the nearby foliage. I did notice that the bird is showing a
preference to the MOST saturated ground in this area (makes sense.)
I believe that the bird must have at least a minor wing injury because
it held it's left wing significantly above it's body the entire time I
observed it.
Peter Bridge josiahbridge@hotmail.com
4:58 - 5:05pm. The Va. Rail was in the same area (Enid Haupt Garden)
as mentioned by other posters at the northwest corner of the Museum
of African Art. I watched the bird feeding for a few minutes same as it
was doing on July 29. Then it went under the bushes, and appeared to be
resting when I left. I think the left wing tip is higher, then it was
last week.
David Bridge David@simsc.si.edu