Baillon's Crake

Part two of the 'mega' twitch was a trip to Rainham Marshes RSPB in Essex to see if we could get a view of a very elusive little bird, a juvenile Baillon's Crake. Chris had been the day before and after spending 6 hours in the hide had a view which lasted about 5 seconds, I had also heard tales of people spending 15 hours before a glimpse, I wasn't looking forward to this vigil.

The bird had been reported at 7am that day, but on arrival at the reserve at about 1.30 we heard news that it hadn't been seen since. We walked to the hide where a few birders sat and stood staring at a patch of mud and reed bed, some had been there since the morning, some had arrived just after the Crakes' last sighting and were looking a bit down-beat. Chris and I started our vigil.

A Water Rail raised the temperature a little bit when part of it was seen in the reeds and someone called that they had seen something move. A mass rush to scopes and binoculars ensued, but on sighting the red bill of a Water Rail the excitement reduced. This small patch of mud wasn't particularly awe inspiring and some young Coots and Moorhens continued to get the twitchers going as their movement created excitement. All of a sudden the bird was spotted, in a completely different spot to where it was supposed to be! All hell broke loose, people frantically tried to get on the bird, most succeeding, but some were still looking in the wrong spot! I managed to rattle off a couple of shots before the bird disappeared back into the reed bed, not to be seen again that day. We had been there half an hour, result!

This is what all the fuss was about, a small, grey bird, not much bigger than a House Sparrow. Click on this and all the other images for a larger picture.

Can you see it? The last view of the day as it disappeared back into the reeds.

The hide gradually emptied and we bade our farewells. I had imagined hours waiting for this little 'mega' to appear and felt slightly guilty that I only had to put in 30 minutes, not that guilty though!

Glad it was such a comfortable hide! According to the RSPB people this was quiet!

The Baillon's Crake is another pretty rare bird, with only 75 sightings in the U.K. since 1819, although a few have been seen and heard this year, making people think that it is an under-recorded bird.