I knew next to nothing about Virginia Rails when I found a nest. A bit of info about Rails: They are Precocial, meaning that from the day the chicks hatch, they are able to feed themselves. The parents will still help them to find food, and will protect them, but the chicks are independent from day one. The parents spend about 4 days protecting them and teaching them to forage. After this brief period, they disburse, and the chicks are on their own.  In this case, I think these chicks stayed with Mom and Pop for 5 days, but still, that is asking a lot! 

I believe I found the nest on the day the chicks hatched. I was thrilled to see these little black fluff balls: I had no idea how many chicks there were. Both Mom and Dad were helping to raise them, and the group was widely disbursed as they foraged through the grass and mud flats.  I think there were 5 chicks, but that is just a guess. There was almost always one chick under a parent.  These chicks would get fed by the parent. For some reason, I was not able to find the chicks on day two. I was probably there when they were all sleeping. On day three I decided to arrive at 5:30 am to catch the early morning foraging.  To my horror, I was greeted by a raccoon as he was raiding the nest.  I know we are not meant to intervene with nature, but my gut instinct took over, and I started yelling at the raccoon with my alpha voice.  He stood up and looked at me, then disappeared into the grass. I decided to leave the area, as there was nothing I could do at that point.  I returned one hour later, and much to my amazement, all chicks seem to have survived the attack. A short while later I was able to get a photo of 5 of the 7 members of the family. (I have no photos showing the entire family). On day 4, I chose to stay well back, so as to not stress the family. They had been through enough the day before with the raccoon. By day 5, however, I finally had a major breakthrough in my understanding of Rail behavior. I stayed well back on day 4, because they were vocalizing a lot, and I was concerned that I was making them nervous.  On day 5, however, they were vocalizing a lot even before I arrived.  I finally figured out that they are vocalizing constantly to keep in touch with each other.  It is the two parents who are calling constantly.  I think it is to let each other know where they are at any time, but also to keep the chicks nearby.  Once I realized this, I felt comfortable approaching much closer.  On average I think I stayed about 20 yards away from them, and they continued to forage, unconcerned about my presence.  The constant calling made it very easy to find them at any given time.  I spent almost 4 hours with them on that day. It was a good thing too, because this was their last day together. The parents kept tag-teaming each other. One would fly to "the mainland" (the nest was on a small island), while the other stayed behind.  After a few hours of this, finally both parents flew off for a brief vacation. The chicks took this opportunity to start venturing out away from the island. When I departed, both parents were back and foraging with the chicks. This was the last I saw of the family.  I returned on day 6, and searched for several hours. I saw no sign of adults or chicks. When they disburse, they really disburse.  I wish them all well, and it was an honor to spend the nestling period with them.