Spotted Crakes

Last night I visited a small marsh called Råmose, just outside Copenhagen. The reason was that 2 Spotted Crakes had been heard 'singing' here for the last two nights, potetially a new species for me in Denmark. I arrived on site, courtesy of train and bicycle, at 2030 and, at about 2040, I heard one call briefly. Then, at about 2047 a Spotted Crake started calling frequently and, at 2105, it was joined by a second. To add to the atmosphere a Bittern was 'booming'. I was amazed that, in such a small marsh surrounded by urban development, there could be 2 Spotted Crakes and a Bittern!

I took a short video of the site and, if you turn up your volume and put your ear to the speaker, you might just hear the Spotted Crakes. Apologies to the Danes for murdering the pronunciation of the site....! And even more apologies to all for the David Bellamy impression at the beginning! :-)

This morning I spent an hour at Vestamager where the flock of Lesser White-fronted Geese is down to 9. I saw them much better than on Monday evening and could see that none of them was ringed. Two Peregrines (one adult and one 2nd year), 321 Barnacle Geese and my first Tree Pipit of the year flying north provided the supporting cast.

Spotted Crakes from Terry Townshend on Vimeo.