One of the most astonishing items of birding news this year was the possible breeding of a small number of Baillon's Crakes scattered across the country. No details were released and it didn't seem like there were going to be any chances to connect with any of the birds. So, when Johnny texted me last night about a Baillon's Crake at Rainham, I jumped at the opportunity to leave early this morning with him and Ian.
Just as we parked up, Dominic Mitchell tweeted that the bird was currently showing. A fast walk towards the Tower Butts hide and we were there in ten minutes, Dominic putting us straight on the juvenile BAILLON'S CRAKE! Superb! It fed for a few minutes along the edge, disappeared and appeared a couple of times then mooched away into the vegetation. That was the last I saw of it and that was some time around 6.20am. It was seen in flight briefly a couple of times by others, within the next half hour or so but after a while it became clear that it wasn't going to be game for the time being, maybe dusk would be a good bet.
So that's what I plan to do, I'm just having a break at home at the moment then heading out for a stroll around the patch and giving it a late afternoon/evening go for further views and perhaps a few record shots.
