Spotted crake...

It’s not every day that I see a new bird. I sat in a hide at Blacktoft Sands, with the reedbeds illuminated by the last rays of the sun, and watched - with about a dozen other people - as a spotted crake crept in and out of the reeds. A little stint, the smallest of our wading birds, probed the mud-flats. In the last few days all three of our harriers - marsh, hen and montagu’s - have been seen here (but I only saw the marsh harriers)…

Spotted crake (pic: Creative Commons)...