I walked the length of the Bog Meadow Brook Trail in Saratoga Springs this morning mainly looking for butterflies and wildflowers. I was surprised to spot a dark bird feeding on the mud that turned out to be a Virginia Rail. It moved a little further away but kept foraging while for some of the time another smaller dark bird seemed to join it. After I looked carefully at my pictures I realized the smaller bird was a black, downy Virginia Rail chick - first I have ever seen. A little further down the trail I spotted another grown Virginia Rail in the open. The rest of the birds I noticed on the trail were the expected ones. I attached a few rail pics mostly for i.d. purposes.
