South Africa – Marievale Bird Sanctuary [17]

Atlasville, 25 Jan 2012

The Baillon’s Crake is still present at Marievale. It is still defeating the attempts of many to try and get even a glimpse of it. I have been one of the lucky ones, but I am determined to get a photo of it out in the open. Well, a clear view with no intervening foliage. So, I set off once more this morning, again with a birding friend accompanying me. Will it be third time lucky as far as the photography goes?

All reports suggest that it does not move too far from where it was first recorded. We arrived at that spot to find a small group of birders scouring the reedbed. They had been there almost an hour with no luck. While talking with them I happened to be looking further along the track on which we were standing and there it was – crossing the track! Just a little too far for a decent shot, but my autofocus worked reasonably well in the few seconds it took the crake to disappear into cover again. Not the crispest focus but the best photo I will get of the whole bird. Definitely a Baillon’s Crake.

There was an added bonus today. For the first time in South Africa outside the Kruger Park, I recorded Greater Painted-snipe. Only my second ever photo too.

I seem incapable of leaving Marievale without yet another photo of a Malachite Kingfisher.