Dave, Roger and I had decided
to go to Eye Brook Reservoir in another attempt to see the Spotted Crake, which
had been reported again this morning.
The Little Owl was in the old
oak along the approach road and a Red Kite was also observed before we reached
the reservoir. We parked near the gate
in the north west corner of the reservoir to scan the eastern edge of the
reservoir. A second Red Kite a Sparrowhawk
and a Buzzard were observed and there were several Little Egrets and a single
Yellow Wagtail on the edge of the stream.
Talking to other birders there appeared to be some doubt as to whether
or not the crake had actually been seen as the last few reported all appeared
to second hand. There were two Water
Rails visible from the corral though, so we moved our location to try and see
the rails. The area on the east bank
looked perfect for crakes and rails but all we could see was a couple of Dunlin,
two Ruff, a Common Sandpiper and four Green Sandpipers. At 18:00 there were about seven birders in
the corral and I 18:05 I saw the crake between two sets of sedge and it walked
out into the sun before disappearing again.
I was the only one that managed to see it before it disappeared but the
sighting did improve the concentration.
By 19:00 there was only four of us left and at 17:05 Roger picked the
crake up again and this time it was a little more obliging and everyone got on
it. We had also seen at least one Water
Rail and the day ended successfully for us all but what a Skulker. We had a second Sparrowhawk as we were
leaving the reservoir.
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