Rails, Crakes & Coots (Family Rallidae)

[Amoli]

Thanks, I will - hope it sticks around.

[Flutterby]

Good luck!

[Flutterby]

Posted on Birdlife SA's FB page by Trevor Hardaker:

I see a lot of people asking why the SPOTTED CRAKE at Waterfall Estate in Midrand is causing so much excitement, so here are a few comments and thoughts if you have nothing better to do…:)
Firstly, Spotted Crake is a regular annual migrant in low numbers into Southern Africa and is present every year in the northern parts of the subregion. It is, however, fairly unusual for them to make it all the way down to South Africa, although it is not unprecedented and there are plenty of previous records of this happening. What is unprecedented though is the number of Spotted Crakes that are currently in South Africa – I’m not personally aware of there ever having been so many of them around in the country at any one time. So, on the rarity scale, it’s not quite a mega, but it’s still a rather good bird…
So, what makes the Midrand one so popular? Well, it is right in the middle of the part of the country with the highest density of birders, it is really just a short drive from most parts of urban Gauteng and it is also in an easily accessible spot. What makes it even better is that it is hanging around a small pond, so you don’t have to search through acres and acres of habitat to find it, and also, it is extremely confiding and acting very un-Spotted Crake-like. These birds are notorious skulkers and generally don’t afford good views whereas this bird is doing exactly the opposite. So, in short, this is literally one of the best ever opportunities to get fantastic close-up views of this bird in South Africa.
What drives people to go and see it? Well, that will differ from one person to the next? Some will be driven by the numbers because they get to add another bird to their lifelist, some will want to take advantage of the fantastic photographic opportunities and some will just realize that this is a pretty unusual opportunity to get awesome views of this normally rather secretive species.
Whatever the case, it is an opportunity not to be missed! I have seen this species a number of times before in the subregion, but also travelled up from Cape Town on the weekend to enjoy it, partly because my wife had never seen one before (and I took her along) and partly because I realized what a great opportunity it would be to spend time with this confiding individual and just enjoy the unparalleled views of it.

[Flutterby]

Rare visitor gets birders flocking to the Highveld

Shaun Smillie | 27 January, 2016

More than 600 people, some from as far as Cape Town, have come to Johannesburg to get a glimpse of a bird that is not quite the size of a chicken.

The bird is a spotted crake and it has pitched up at a pond at Waterfall Estate, Midrand.

Spotted crakes, said Trevor Hardaker, chairman of Bird Life SA's rarities committee, usually migrate only as far south as Zambia or Zimbabwe. But this one kept on going.

It is not the only one. It has been a strange summer for spotted crakes.

There have been sightings of at least a dozen crakes around the country.

The rarities committee tracks sightings of rare birds and was notified of the Midrand crake on Thursday.

"They are normally reclusive but this one is parading around in the open," said Hardaker.

The wayward spotted crake and its far-roaming fellows, such as the snowy egret that visited Cape Town last year, are helping to generate tourist dollars.

Avi-tourism is becoming a draw, particularly in towns such as Wakkerstroom, to where birders flock from around the world.

A 2009 report by the Department of Trade and Industry put the take from the bird-tourism industry at between R1-billion and R1.7-billion.

"We have a group coming through every second or third day," said Kristi Garland, Bird Life SA's manager in Wakkerstroom.

"The big groups come from Germany, the UK and the US."

They are mainly coming to see, she said, endemic species such as the yellow-breasted pipit and the blue korhaan.

[Lisbeth]

There you are, real birders are Imagine coming from the US only to see birds

[harrys]

Black Crake (Amaurornis flavirostra)
Kruger National Park

L22-9.jpg (88.44 KiB) Viewed 257 times

[Richprins]

Chris P @ SANParks

rare bird alert...
At a flooded roadside puddle just south of Letaba @ -23.859, 31.569 a pair of extremely rare and ultra skulking Striped Crakes have been found and photographed over the last couple of days. Definitely worth targeting for those in area...
6:11 AM · Dec 23, 2020

[Alf]

Wow

[Lisbeth]

Christmas present for birders

[Klipspringer]

A female