Spotted Crake at Oare Marshes

With a Spotted Crake showing at Oare Marshes, near Faversham for the past few days and a species I have not seen on this reserve I thought I would make a visit this afternoon to see if I could not only see it but maybe get a few photos. There were a good assortment of waders on the East flood on arrival including hundreds of Black tailed Godwit, a few Bar tailed Godwit, 1 Little Stint, 3 Curlew Sandpiper, a few Ruff, c40 Golden Plover and a few Snipe. I headed straight round to the East hide where the Crake has been seen and after a brief wait with Adrian Dowling the Spotted Crake showed up and spent some time showing very well at times allowing for a number of photos to be taken. There was unfortunately always a reed in the way but a few pleasing efforts were obtained. Despite seeing a few over the years in the Stour Valley this is probably one of the best encounters I have had with this species and all made better with the good views and a few photos taken. The reserve looks fantastic tomorrow and I'm sure another visit is on the cards very soon indeed.

Spotted Crake