Andrew
wibble wibble
05-11-04
Location : RSPB Marazion Marsh. Cornwall. SW512312.
Last night, after much indecision I finally decided to throw caution to the wind and go for the Little Crake at Marazion Marsh. It only took one look at some pictures of the bird on the internet to make my mind up. The night passed uncomfortably as I could not sleep well knowing the stars were shining on a clear night and hoping the bird's zugunruhe would not kick in. Finally it was six in the morning and I rose for breakfast and to pack before catching a bus to the railway station for an eight o'clock train to Penzance. As it brightened up the sky was somewhat cloudy which gave me hope but I could not relax until a report of the bird came through. Ten minutes after leaving Tiverton Parkway Kingfisher sent me a text to say the Crake had been seen this morning. That was an enormous relief and I could sit back and enjoy the journey which passed some coastal spots such as the Exe estuary, the Teign at Passage House near Newton Abbot and the Plym Estuary.
After just over three hours and a complete scrutiny of every word in The Independent, the train pulled into Penzance. The bus station was conveniently right outside the train station with helpful staff directing me to the correct bus that would drop me outside the reserve, the number two bus. It was only a five minute wait before one came along but an elderly lady of portly dimensions and a strong reek of alcohol decided to have an argument with the bus driver about her expired season ticket. It took fifteen minutes and the intervention of another member of staff to quell her protestations before we finally made a move. I came close to telling her to shut up and sit down, I am sure many others had the same intentions. At Longrock the compact bus pulled into the back roads of an industrial estate and then into a bus depot for a driver change over. With a three star rarity beckoning I could not bear any more delays, thankfully we got on our way again but not before the drivers had a good chinwag.
The bus dropped me off at the bridge between the two pools at Marazion Marsh. Four birders were gathered at the spot by the end of the fence on the east side of the reserve. Despite being a good four hundred yards away I had a look with my bins just in case I could see the bird and safely bag the tick but it was a tall order. Unsurprisingly, I walked faster than an Olympic Walker. Just before I climbed over the wall near the viewing point I had another look and again it was no good. It is peculiar that after a long journey, panic should set in when I am a mere hundred yards from the bird and can not see it whilst knowing it is there!
At the end of the path to the edge of the pond on the eastern side of the reserve a kind birder I have met on previous Cornish visits pointed out the Little Crake. It promptly disappeared into some reeds and that was the tick safely bagged. I should have relaxed then but I wanted to look at it properly and did not have to worry as it came right back out again and I attempted a few photographs but could only manage record shots at best. Happy with the record shots and out of frustration, I put the camera away and concentrated on recording as much detail as I could.
It would be a huge task to describe it to someone who had never seen one before as the bird carried a gamut of features. The first thing to come to mind was the eye, there was definitely some redness to it but it was hard to figure if it was a red iris with a black pupil or the other way round. A small dark patch was present behind the eye. The crown was dark and ran down the back of the neck into a diffuse band carrying on into a another dark yet broader central stripe on the mantle. This dark central stripe on the mantle had a white stripe in the centre of it or to be more descriptive a line of blotches that appeared to be brilliant white emulsion dabbed on in a line with a small sea sponge. This central black and white stripe on the mantle was flanked symmetrically by brown then thin white stripes and two short black stripes. The diffuse band linking the dark crown and mantle stripes could best be described as iron filings on paper drawn towards a central line by a magnet underneath.
The diagnostic feature of the long primary projection on the wings was clearly obvious and it briefly stretched it's wings to reveal a uniformly dark set of feathers with soft rounded ends save for one or two with a white blotch on it. A few feathers closest to the body, probably the tertials, appeared heavily loaded with white spots. White spots were also scattered on the scapulars. The bill was quite dull with a hint of green and structurally similar to a Spotted Crake's. It had spindly green legs with long toes that made light work of walking on the broken reeds and weeds. I was bemused when it swam effortlessly from one patch of reeds to another by the fence and later learnt this is another typical characteristic of a Little Crake. Once I saw a Water Rail chased into water by a dog and it certainly did not have the grace and ease in water as this bird.
There was a progression of light at the throat to a darker undertail covert. The lightness was at it's strongest with a clean white just under the bill on the sides of the chin progressing to a pale yet duller throat and onto a light grey belly with barred flanks. The flanks then appeared to envelope the under parts as you moved to the tail and increasingly grew denser and blacker at the under tail coverts. The under tail coverts being barred interested me as The Handbook of Bird Identification suggested they would be buff while the Collins proposed barring. I wondered if this meant the first book was incorrect or it was sign that this was a juvenile moving into adult plumage. The rump and possibly the back were brown that spilt over the sides.
When a Little Grebe came close to the Crake and you could see that the Little Crake deserves it's name with the Little Grebe being at least a third as big. The Crake eventually reached the left edge of the open area and came close to a Common Coot which completely dwarfed it. It was highly mobile and proved difficult to photograph earlier for that reason. The Crake seemed very happy in this habitat with copious amounts of food and even once gobbled down a water snail almost as big as it's bill. After a good twenty five minute view it disappeared down the edge of the reeds on the left out of sight.
While waiting for it to show again I took some shots of a Little Egret that landed close to us in the company of a few Eurasian Wigeon, Eurasian Teal and Mallards. Several Common Snipe flew out of the reeds throughout the session and there were possibly two Jack Snipe flying over with short bills but without hearing them I could not be positive of that. A small flock of Dunlin roamed the reserve looking for a good spot to put down. After a thirty minute wait I thought it was time to make tracks and headed back to the bus stop with a brief scan of the sea and successfully finding the six Great Northern Divers and a Black-throated Diver off Long Rock.
The train ride home passed comfortably with a delicious pasty and reading James Fisher's splendid book, The Shell Bird Book. Once back home I toasted the wonderful lifer with a fine Rioja and felt enormously thankful that I had gone for the bird in the end.
Location : RSPB Marazion Marsh. Cornwall. SW512312.
Last night, after much indecision I finally decided to throw caution to the wind and go for the Little Crake at Marazion Marsh. It only took one look at some pictures of the bird on the internet to make my mind up. The night passed uncomfortably as I could not sleep well knowing the stars were shining on a clear night and hoping the bird's zugunruhe would not kick in. Finally it was six in the morning and I rose for breakfast and to pack before catching a bus to the railway station for an eight o'clock train to Penzance. As it brightened up the sky was somewhat cloudy which gave me hope but I could not relax until a report of the bird came through. Ten minutes after leaving Tiverton Parkway Kingfisher sent me a text to say the Crake had been seen this morning. That was an enormous relief and I could sit back and enjoy the journey which passed some coastal spots such as the Exe estuary, the Teign at Passage House near Newton Abbot and the Plym Estuary.
After just over three hours and a complete scrutiny of every word in The Independent, the train pulled into Penzance. The bus station was conveniently right outside the train station with helpful staff directing me to the correct bus that would drop me outside the reserve, the number two bus. It was only a five minute wait before one came along but an elderly lady of portly dimensions and a strong reek of alcohol decided to have an argument with the bus driver about her expired season ticket. It took fifteen minutes and the intervention of another member of staff to quell her protestations before we finally made a move. I came close to telling her to shut up and sit down, I am sure many others had the same intentions. At Longrock the compact bus pulled into the back roads of an industrial estate and then into a bus depot for a driver change over. With a three star rarity beckoning I could not bear any more delays, thankfully we got on our way again but not before the drivers had a good chinwag.
The bus dropped me off at the bridge between the two pools at Marazion Marsh. Four birders were gathered at the spot by the end of the fence on the east side of the reserve. Despite being a good four hundred yards away I had a look with my bins just in case I could see the bird and safely bag the tick but it was a tall order. Unsurprisingly, I walked faster than an Olympic Walker. Just before I climbed over the wall near the viewing point I had another look and again it was no good. It is peculiar that after a long journey, panic should set in when I am a mere hundred yards from the bird and can not see it whilst knowing it is there!
At the end of the path to the edge of the pond on the eastern side of the reserve a kind birder I have met on previous Cornish visits pointed out the Little Crake. It promptly disappeared into some reeds and that was the tick safely bagged. I should have relaxed then but I wanted to look at it properly and did not have to worry as it came right back out again and I attempted a few photographs but could only manage record shots at best. Happy with the record shots and out of frustration, I put the camera away and concentrated on recording as much detail as I could.
It would be a huge task to describe it to someone who had never seen one before as the bird carried a gamut of features. The first thing to come to mind was the eye, there was definitely some redness to it but it was hard to figure if it was a red iris with a black pupil or the other way round. A small dark patch was present behind the eye. The crown was dark and ran down the back of the neck into a diffuse band carrying on into a another dark yet broader central stripe on the mantle. This dark central stripe on the mantle had a white stripe in the centre of it or to be more descriptive a line of blotches that appeared to be brilliant white emulsion dabbed on in a line with a small sea sponge. This central black and white stripe on the mantle was flanked symmetrically by brown then thin white stripes and two short black stripes. The diffuse band linking the dark crown and mantle stripes could best be described as iron filings on paper drawn towards a central line by a magnet underneath.
The diagnostic feature of the long primary projection on the wings was clearly obvious and it briefly stretched it's wings to reveal a uniformly dark set of feathers with soft rounded ends save for one or two with a white blotch on it. A few feathers closest to the body, probably the tertials, appeared heavily loaded with white spots. White spots were also scattered on the scapulars. The bill was quite dull with a hint of green and structurally similar to a Spotted Crake's. It had spindly green legs with long toes that made light work of walking on the broken reeds and weeds. I was bemused when it swam effortlessly from one patch of reeds to another by the fence and later learnt this is another typical characteristic of a Little Crake. Once I saw a Water Rail chased into water by a dog and it certainly did not have the grace and ease in water as this bird.
There was a progression of light at the throat to a darker undertail covert. The lightness was at it's strongest with a clean white just under the bill on the sides of the chin progressing to a pale yet duller throat and onto a light grey belly with barred flanks. The flanks then appeared to envelope the under parts as you moved to the tail and increasingly grew denser and blacker at the under tail coverts. The under tail coverts being barred interested me as The Handbook of Bird Identification suggested they would be buff while the Collins proposed barring. I wondered if this meant the first book was incorrect or it was sign that this was a juvenile moving into adult plumage. The rump and possibly the back were brown that spilt over the sides.
When a Little Grebe came close to the Crake and you could see that the Little Crake deserves it's name with the Little Grebe being at least a third as big. The Crake eventually reached the left edge of the open area and came close to a Common Coot which completely dwarfed it. It was highly mobile and proved difficult to photograph earlier for that reason. The Crake seemed very happy in this habitat with copious amounts of food and even once gobbled down a water snail almost as big as it's bill. After a good twenty five minute view it disappeared down the edge of the reeds on the left out of sight.
While waiting for it to show again I took some shots of a Little Egret that landed close to us in the company of a few Eurasian Wigeon, Eurasian Teal and Mallards. Several Common Snipe flew out of the reeds throughout the session and there were possibly two Jack Snipe flying over with short bills but without hearing them I could not be positive of that. A small flock of Dunlin roamed the reserve looking for a good spot to put down. After a thirty minute wait I thought it was time to make tracks and headed back to the bus stop with a brief scan of the sea and successfully finding the six Great Northern Divers and a Black-throated Diver off Long Rock.
The train ride home passed comfortably with a delicious pasty and reading James Fisher's splendid book, The Shell Bird Book. Once back home I toasted the wonderful lifer with a fine Rioja and felt enormously thankful that I had gone for the bird in the end.
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