I was silly enough to send this report to myself on Saturday morning
instead of the list, so here it is again.
Peter Shute
Peter Shute wrote on Saturday, 9 February 2008 9:34 AM:
> Despite the high water levels since Thursday's rain I spent
> an hour and a half down there this morning (Saturday) to prove to
myself
> whether or not the Lewin's can still be seen in these conditions.
>
> Starting at 6.30am in cold, overcast conditions but
> thankfully little wind, I spent an hour at the southern
> platform and had nothing but a few brief views of a Spotless
> Crake on the bank opposite and at one stage climbing a reed.
> It showed better than this species has during the week, but
> was still being quite cautious.
>
> I then spent half an hour at the northern platform, where I
> saw the Lewin's Rail for about 10 seconds just before I left.
> It appeared for an instant in the furthest grass visible on
> the left edge, then reappeared a few seconds later and
> crossed over to the other side and disappeared. It appeared
> to be aware of my presence, perhaps 10m away.
>
> I've seen it do that disappear and reappear trick there
> before. It appears to be checking things out before it
> decides it's safe to cross.
>
> Just before it appeared I heard what sounded a bit like a
> horse snorting very softly, or a very soft raspberry, from
> the right hand side. I heard this same noise a few nights
> ago. Any guesses? Perhaps an extremely soft variation of
> the Spotless Crake's "purr"?
>
> On the way out I had a great view of a Brown Falcon sitting
> on a low bush in the vacant land just to the north of that
> platform, from a distance of about 20m. It's been doing this
> a bit lately.
>
> Also on the pond were some Grey and Chestnut Teal, the males
> of the latter in various odd looking plumages. Could this be
> eclipse plumage? I haven't seen that yet, is it the right
> time of year?
>
> Peter Shute
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