The secretive and elusive Water Rail.
01st August 2013
The Water rails is a genuine oddity amongst British birds, with its pig-like squealing and other strange and eerie noises sometimes made through the night. It is also very unpredictable, because for a bird that can be so noisy it is notoriously reclusive, but it sometimes, although infrequently, can be seen right out in the open. Its slender legs and toes are adapted for walking on floating plants, allowing it to slip quickly through the marshy vegetation without being seen. Cold weather triggers predatory behaviour, which is out of character with its largely insectivorous lifestyle, and it has been known to attack species as large as knots.
On a local lake with very large reed beds I knew Water rails existed because I had often heard their pig-like squealing, however, over at least ten years I have only managed to photograph a bird once. I have often seen one scoot quickly across a gap between the reed beds but that was all.
Things are a little quiet on the bird front at the moment so one morning earlier this week I decided to get out early to try and photograph a family of Reed Warblers I had seen previously. I managed to get a few shots and I was just waiting for another opportunity when I could hear a call I didn't recognize, I thought it sounded like a young bird, Coot or Moorhen perhaps, but it just didn't sound right. I waited for a minute or two and to my surprise a Water rail walked out of the vegetation, then another, I shot them both and I thought 'what a stroke of luck, right place, right time I suppose'. However, what happened next was quite incredible, a little ball of black fluff with a creme coloured beak crept through the long grass. I could not believe what I was seeing, a Water rail chick, you just don't see these birds they are so secretive with their young.
On Spring Watch this year young Water rail chicks were filmed, for what was thought to be the first time in the nest, that's how elusive they are. This was for me the next best thing, just to see this one was a huge achievement, however, it wasn't finished there, not by a long shot, another, then another chick and in total five Water rail chicks, I really, really couldn't believe it now!!
I managed to take a few quick shots before they quickly disappeared into the reed bed, I thought 'Wow! did that really happen'. I was just getting used to what I had seen when I heard the same squeak. I pointed my lens to where I thought the noise had come from, it can be so difficult to pin point the exact area a noise comes from in a reed bed. It was, however, better to be proactive just in case they came out again, because if I had the lens pointing away the movement as the lens swung around may have frightened them away.
What happened next just freaked me out, the two adult birds led the five chicks right out into the open. Seven Water rails all running around in front of me, I didn't know where to look let alone take a photograph. I managed to compose myself as the adults started to probe the muddy bottom of the reed bed and then feed the chicks, the adults posed, then the chicks posed, then they posed together, what an experience.
I took a whole raft of shots during a 'golden' ten minute period, then they as a family, just melted away into the depths of the reed bed. I was left dumbfounded, all thoughts of Reed Warblers had disappeared, I packed up and left in a state of shock.
Please see UK Birds, Herons, Egrets and Rails, Water Rail.
On a local lake with very large reed beds I knew Water rails existed because I had often heard their pig-like squealing, however, over at least ten years I have only managed to photograph a bird once. I have often seen one scoot quickly across a gap between the reed beds but that was all.
Things are a little quiet on the bird front at the moment so one morning earlier this week I decided to get out early to try and photograph a family of Reed Warblers I had seen previously. I managed to get a few shots and I was just waiting for another opportunity when I could hear a call I didn't recognize, I thought it sounded like a young bird, Coot or Moorhen perhaps, but it just didn't sound right. I waited for a minute or two and to my surprise a Water rail walked out of the vegetation, then another, I shot them both and I thought 'what a stroke of luck, right place, right time I suppose'. However, what happened next was quite incredible, a little ball of black fluff with a creme coloured beak crept through the long grass. I could not believe what I was seeing, a Water rail chick, you just don't see these birds they are so secretive with their young.
On Spring Watch this year young Water rail chicks were filmed, for what was thought to be the first time in the nest, that's how elusive they are. This was for me the next best thing, just to see this one was a huge achievement, however, it wasn't finished there, not by a long shot, another, then another chick and in total five Water rail chicks, I really, really couldn't believe it now!!
I managed to take a few quick shots before they quickly disappeared into the reed bed, I thought 'Wow! did that really happen'. I was just getting used to what I had seen when I heard the same squeak. I pointed my lens to where I thought the noise had come from, it can be so difficult to pin point the exact area a noise comes from in a reed bed. It was, however, better to be proactive just in case they came out again, because if I had the lens pointing away the movement as the lens swung around may have frightened them away.
What happened next just freaked me out, the two adult birds led the five chicks right out into the open. Seven Water rails all running around in front of me, I didn't know where to look let alone take a photograph. I managed to compose myself as the adults started to probe the muddy bottom of the reed bed and then feed the chicks, the adults posed, then the chicks posed, then they posed together, what an experience.
I took a whole raft of shots during a 'golden' ten minute period, then they as a family, just melted away into the depths of the reed bed. I was left dumbfounded, all thoughts of Reed Warblers had disappeared, I packed up and left in a state of shock.
Please see UK Birds, Herons, Egrets and Rails, Water Rail.