This morning I headed over to the Byards Road wetland early, after a tip from Joy Wilson Peter on the South Aussie Birding Facebook Page, looking for what would be a lifer for me. She was even kind enough to meet me there to show me where she saw the bird. We had a bit of a look before she headed off, then I staked out the pond for the next forty minutes before I finally saw it - a Baillon's Crake!
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| Baillon's Crake, Byards Rd Wetland, SA |
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| Baillon's Crake, Byards Rd Wetland, SA |
I watched it for about 15 minutes, moving along the edge of pond, through the reeds, and back again. At one point it stopped on top of some reeds and had a bit of a preen.
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| Baillon's Crake, Byards Rd Wetland, SA |
The Baillon's Crake is similar to the Australian Spotted Crake which I have seen previously at a few different locations (although not at Byards!), but the white on the upper parts of the Baillon's appears streaked rather than spotted, and it has this black barring under the tail where the Spotted has white.
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| Baillon's Crake, Byards Rd Wetland, SA |
It was very exciting to see another species that I haven't seen before, and especially seeing something new so close to home!
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