Excellent views of a water rail in front of the hide this morning. We were surprised to see it with a fish, which it seemed to find in the shallow water between two patches of reeds - whether it caught or scavenged it we're not sure, but it spent about 20 minutes attempting to eat it in several different locations, before it disappeared from view - amazing camouflage.
Apologies for the poor quality of the photo, but a record shot at least. The bill is open as it was eating, but the fish is hidden from view.
( I had some video footage too, showing the fish being eaten, but although the computer tells me it is being uploaded, nothing happens. If anyone has any helpful hints, that would be great - I did try compressing it to a zipped folder and then uploading that, but to no avail - my computer skills are not good!)
Fantastic Sue - Brian and I heard one calling back in October(ish) but until yesterday not aware that anyone had seen the bird - great stuff
ReplyDeleteThanks Mark - any ideas why I can't upload the video - perhaps it's too big - 87.6 MB compressed but that doesn't mean much to me I'm afraid!
ReplyDeleteNo idea sorry but that is a bit large!! Video ain't my bag!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant news Sue, thanks for posting.The Water Rail could have been there all the time. I may be able to get down to L CYD today, but its over to Mark for a nice pic as I am away.
ReplyDeleteHmm - 2 hours and no show yet!
ReplyDeleteJust been reading up a bit about water rails' diet - nothing very specific apart from aquatic invertebrates, insects and plant material - no mention of fish! - but have also read that it uses definite paths fixed by the position of favourable food sources, and that it repeatedly visits successful hunting spots - so I'm keeping fingers crossed for you Mark!
ReplyDelete7 hours and a big no-show today Sue - hey ho, if it was easy..........!!
ReplyDeleteSue Hi
ReplyDeleteRe the video, yes as Mark suggested it is a large file, but if you are downloading to a desk top PC or indeed a laptop there is editing software available to reduce the video into smaller segments. If you took the video on a ipad or iphone or similar, then there are editing apps galore at either very low price or indeed free. If you can pass me the detail of equipment used I would be more than happy to research the net to try and solve the problem, I am lucky to have time on my hands these days - lol. I can be contacted at manafon1@gmail.com.
Think we must just have been very lucky Mark. Sorry you weren't too.
DeleteThanks Trevor. I took the footage on my little digital camera - a Canon Power Shot A3100 IS. We're not around for a few days now, but I'll be in touch when we return. Please don't go to a lot of trouble, but the idea of breaking the video down into smaller segments is a good one, especially as the second half is very poor quality - I tried to zoom in too far!