Small Bird, Mighty Twitch

Small Bird, Mighty Twitch

We arrived at Linford Lakes NR early morning at around 7:00am in hopes of seeing a Little Crake. We had to queue at the reserve gates, as the hides to view the Little Crake were full. After a few minutes, we were guided towards a bank, which provided more distant views of the section of reedbed where the Little Crake had favoured. Since we didn't have our tripod on us, the kind warden let me use his. Soon after, he received a call saying that the Warbler Hide had two spaces available. Since we didn't have a tripod, the warden let us have the space, so we made our way to the hide. Once at the hide, we took a seat and waited in the freezing cold. After around two hours, I was frozen solid. Even with a coat, my hands and feet were numb. On the lake  there were three Great Crested Grebes fishing, as well as two Egyptian Geese and a few Great White Egrets. One by one, the birders left the hide, defeated. After most of the people in the hide had left, a man named Richard sat beside us in the hide. He mentioned to us that he had recently been to Canada, and then started answering my many questions and talking about the mega migration that happens in Vancouver Island and the upper coast of Texas. While we were talking, a report came in that the crake had been seen from both Otter Hide and the bank. We immediately started scanning. I texted James (the young birder who had refound the Little Crake from the bank) whereabouts it was seen. 

After getting some more intel, another warden came running from the Otter Hide to show us where to look. Once he did, Richard let me use his scope to see the bird as I was completely lost as to where to look. Looking through Richard's scope, I saw the Little Crake weaving in and out of the reeds. I was ecstatic! I watched it for a bit before letting Richard have his scope back. As well as the crake, an Otter popped up in front of the hide, as well as a Goosander which flew in. After hearing about a few more spaces being available in the Otter Hide, we made our way there in hopes of better views and a record shot. Upon entering the hide, I saw that all the seats were occupied, so I waited for the perfect seat to become available, before eventually sitting down looking through the window which the Little Crake had shown directly in front of. After a few minutes, the Little Crake was on show again, allowing for some great views and a few record shots. However, the atmosphere suddenly became unpleasant when a birder started swearing at another birder for blocking the view, yelling at him to move out the way. Reluctantly, he did, giving up his spot for the rude man who was being told by multiple people to calm down. 

After getting good views and a record shot. We decided to go to Northstowe for the Ferruginous Duck, as not much else was around. On the way, I got good views of a Red Kite from the car. With the light fading, we arrived at Northstowe, meeting two young birders there (Lucas and Noah). We scanned Halcyon Mere Lake, seeing many Pochard and Tufted Duck on the lake. After walking round the back of the lake, we found the Ferruginous Duck with four Pochard. It had seemingly paired with a drake Pochard as it flew out into the middle of the lake with it, as well as swimming close by it. As the light was fading, we decided to call it a day, seeing multiple Common Snipe fly overhead on the way to the car park with Noah.

Overall, an epic day with a lifer (Little Crake) putting my BOU life list on 296 for the UK. Only 4 more to go until 300!