Spotted Crake at last.

So yesterday being Saturday and the prospect of a clearish M25 I debated on giving the Spotted Crake at Oare Marshes another go, but it hadn't been seen on Friday and to be honest I couldn't be bothered. Of course it was sighted, but that's no guarantee that I'd have seen it. Checking the other sightings for the day there'd been a couple of sightings late on at Capel Fleet of a Lesser Grey Shrike, never seen one of those and that's not far from Oare Marshes. So that's it, one last go for the Spotted Crake and then if it stays around perhaps a Lesser Grey Shrike. There was never a thought to do the Shrike first, although it'd be a "lifer", the Crake and a decent photo of the Crake was what I was after, It was getting personal.

I didn't set an alarm, but when I rolled over and saw it was 6:15 I thought let's do it. I felt quite tired and it seemed quite dark. While eating breakfast I noticed the clock 5:30 - this cataract of mine! Still the sunrise was pleasant as I drove round the M25 and M2. Arriving at 7:30 I made a pact with myself - This bird can have another two and a half hours of my life, but by 10:00 I'm off.

I wasn't first there, there were already four other birders and they were watching the Crake. It took me a while to connect with it, but it was that easy. Get out the car, walk 200m, chat to a couple of people and tick and photograph Spotted Crake, thank you very much.

It was a lovely morning so having spent half an hour with the bird I decided to give the rest of the reserve an explore starting with the East Hide. Quarter of an hour in there then moving on, but the Spotted Crake had moved a bit, so a few more pictures of it were required. Then a walk to the sea wall to view The Swale and back again. The Spotted Crake had moved again and the sun was now round and the light a bit better so once again a few more photos were required. Eventually enough was enough and I dragged myself away and headed for Capel Fleet and hopefully a "Lifer" in a Lesser Grey Shrike.

Checking the latest sightings the Lesser Grey Shrike was there this morning. "Adult still midway between Capel Fleet and raptor viewpoint this morning; cross wooden bridge and view hedge by field". In reality this translates to:

1. Drive to Capel Fleet.
2. Look out for cars in unusual parking places.
3. Park and scan round for a group of people standing in a field.
4. Join the group, view the bird.

Did that - RCB's got the distant photos.

Time left for a bit of proper birding. Headed for Warden Point in the North East corner of Sheppy, possible good location for Firecrest, Yellow-browed Warbler, Ring Ouzel and a bit of sea/estuary watching. Did that, came up with nothing, but it was a good wee explore.