Phew! A twitchable Baillon’s arrives at Rainham
Marsh in a perfect viewing position. Not
unexpected, given the influx this summer (but I would guess this may be a Dutch
bred bird). However, a relief after the
necessary news blackout of territorial birds. At least the North London birding
press should be able to report this one correctly without relying on various blogs
and adding a dollop of speculation.
Journalists, pah!
I joined the assembled
crowds at dawn on Saturday and marvelled at the ability of the little critter
to find this particular little patch of suitable rushy habitat. Having received some photos of Baillon’s
Crake habitat in The Netherlands back in June, I noted the swamps of Flowering
Rush and Bur-reed and initially thought they had sent me a picture of Rainham
as a joke. A quick e-mail to Rainham
ensured they were crake surveying at night but to no avail. Anyway, this shortish, open-structured wet
vegetation appears to be just what they like. Okay, I saw the ‘89 Sunderland bird but that
clearly had a dodgy radar.
Now the conundrum. The marvellously crakey rush habitat at
Rainham does not favour the usual fare of waders and gulls. In fact, management is being undertaken to significantly
reduce the amount of rushy edges to the pools in favour of muddy margins
suitable for White-tailed Plovers and the like.
Okay, the rushy habitat could be shunted away into a corner away from
prime hide viewing, but then who would see the next crake? A conundrum to be pondered and not to be
rushed. What would you do?
Above - Flowering Rush and botanists closely studying it. Below - Baillon's Crake habitat in The Netherlands (Ruud van Beusekom) and at Rainham, snap!
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