Topic: Rails (Birds)

A list of articles tagged with 'Rails (Birds)'.
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Attenborough, June 2007

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Gallery published by Richard Goodwin

Spent Father's Day taking Dad around Attenborough. Lots of young birds - Reed Warblers and Whitethroats, Tree Sparrows, Great Tits, Coot, Moorhen, Mute Swan and Mallard all got photographed.

There were also a large number of Banded Demoiselle dragonfly-type creatures around; enough that we saw a sparrow catch (and drop) one, one got caught and eaten by a spider, and we found just the wings of another on the path. Mating Ladybirds and a bunch of Peacock Butterfly caterpillars, and some strange cricket-type critters, were amongst the other insects we saw, not counting all the flies and midges.

Attenborough, December 2004

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Gallery published by Richard Goodwin

Taken before the visitor's centre was opened - the door's still boarded up.

The reason there are twitchers in some of the photographs was due to the appearance of a Sora Rail, the photographs of which are elsewhere.

Sora Rail, December 2004

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Gallery published by Richard Goodwin

At the end of December a rare Sora Rail arrived in Nottinghamshire, a long way from its usual stomping grounds in America (perhaps migrating when it got pushed off course by one of the many hurricanes this year?). There have only been around a dozen ever seen in the UK, so it attracted quite a bit of attention. Some week or so after it first appeared I got a chance to see it in person, and after only a few minutes of waiting it not only appeared, but almost walked right up to the waiting crowd.

The photographs below show quite clearly what distinguishes this bird from other rails - the beak colour, the white on the tail, even the white dot near the eye.

Nature

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Gallery published by Richard Goodwin

Random bits of nature photography from various places (Chichester and London certainly, some of it inside the office and my house!)