Little Crake -
The word rarity means different things to different people. Hardened twitchers travel many miles for a glimpse of a vagrant from the New World or other far away places. However back where they came from such birds might be as common as sparrows are to us. To me a rarity is a bird that is seldom seen, either because there are not many of them, or their habitat may be remote, or they might be very secretive and wary of exposure. Such a bird is the Crake. There are probably very few Crakes anyway and they are extremely secretive and difficult to see as they hide away in dense reedbeds or grasses. It was therefore a source of great satisfaction and surprise to see three species of crake in one week. Having "spotted" a, er well, yes...Spotted Crake at Fuente de Piedra just a week ago I was now looking at a Little Crake right in front of the main hide at the Charca de Suarez. It was in clear view foraging on the bank oblivious to my presence just a few meters away. After observing and photographing this delightful bird for a while I wandered around to the Laguna del Trebol hide and caught glimpses of yet another one. Initially I thought it was spotted but having posted a couple of very poor photos on the web I was informed that it was actually a Baillons Crake. Now that is a rarity in my book. My photographs of this bird are very poor but I post one below as evidence and to illustrate the difference from its Little cousin.
Little Crake
Spotted Crake -
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Baillons Crake -
Little Crake
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