any game wardens here?

[TomTerrific]

The only one's I've ever seen do not leave the water like a duck, they run/fly and haul azz across the water for 100 ft or so b4 they can gain altitude. It must be the Anhinga's I'm thinking of

Some ducks go right up in the air. Puddle ducks they call them. Mallards do this. Others haul a_s across the water before getting airborne. I saw a loon go about a quarter mile before he got airborne once. Loons aren't ducks, of course.

The bird in the photo labelled marsh hen is a sora, Parzana carolina, a very common bird in the rail family. There is a rail season and some dedicated hunters, but I don't know of any.

I would have guessed the marsh hen to be the common gallinule, which doesn't resemble the sora in appearance. It's more like a coot, or poule d'eau, which I'm told makes a good gumbo.

 

[LA.Call'emClose]

mmmm mmmmm....some good bec croche and gos bec