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Birds > Gruiformes > Water Rail Rallus aquaticus

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From my experience and the time spent on the lakes, when I want to photograph a Little Crake, a Spotted Crake, a Common Moorhen or a Water Rail, only a Water Rail is always there. Sometimes a Common Moorhen appears, but the other two birds are often like a dream. Once trying to photograph a Water Rail, I was so masked that a Little Crake passed me, looking at me with surprise, unfortunately, it was too close to take the commemorative photo. Returning to the Water Rails, they are very reserved water birds and are almost always under the cover of reed. The mating seasons are especially beautiful, when the blood-red peaks are accompanied with almost blue abdomen and the wings covers, similarly to the corncrake. If you scatter some fishing maggots in the reed, a Water Rail will hopefully start feeding and “posing” for the photos. Water Rail is a medium-sized bird, with the weight of less than 200 grams, and a wingspan of less than 0.5 meters. Surprising that after having arrived in Poland, it stays in reed throughout the whole season, until summer.
Last minute news - 05/2014
There is a big probability that I took pictures of a rare spices of bird. An expert is working on the identification of the species, so I wanted to give more evidence for the existence of this natural curiosity, I went back to the same place, masked, and waited. Two hours passed and the second meeting that I had dreamt about still did not happen. For solace, the mother nature showed me the Water Rail as a substitution. The Water Rail appeared every several minutes, to the left and to the right. The distance between the bird and me was less than 10 meters and I took my the best photos of this bird. There is radical reconstruction of the gallery and Water Rail goes to the news...
Last minute news – 08/2014
I have added some photos of the Water Rail, which I took waiting for spotted crakes or little crakes, but they did not turn up eventually. It was unfortunate that fairly raised up young kept too long distance and did not allow me to take interesting pictures.
Last minute news 08/2014
Unexpectedly, when I was photographing common sandpipers, snipes and ringed plovers, a water rail came out to the open space, on a river bank. Quite untypical behavior for this species. The water rail quickly ran one meter distance, and it stopped, posing charmingly. Next, it did one more meter and stopped again. That was what I call cooperation, and maybe some understanding from the water rail's side, as there was not much light there and it would be difficult to take dynamic pictures on that day.
Last minute news 07/2015
When waiting for the spotted crake to appear, I had no special problems with photographing young water rails.  There were a few of them and of different age, from very young ones to almost adults. I took so many interesting photos that the gallery was rebuilt.
Last minute news-05/2020
After four years and four days, I went to Jacek again for the Little crakes. Jacek thanks for the invitation and excellent preparation of the place to take photos. This time, in front of Little Crakes’ shelter a most active was Water rai. And well, because for years the pictures were not added to the Water Rai gallery and the gallery of Water rai much to be desired. It favour a bird, light and after the old gallery there are only a few pictures remained, shows mainly young Water Rails. This morning must absolutely be included as successful. the meaning transformation in the Water Rails gallery, are big enough that they are shown in the news on my website. The changes in the gallery of Little Crake they are also not small. Unfortunately, this time, the female of Little crake did not show up in front of the lens. There is still a vacancy in the gallery. But both galleries now present a radically different level and go to the news. The family of Rallidae are a grateful topic for photo shoots, and I hope that I will be able to return to them again, although without effort will not happen. A few hours of sitting in trousers-shoes in the water exhausted me, but for such observations and photos I assure it was worth it. This text is mutual to the Water Rai and Little Crake gallery.

Rallus aquaticus
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Rallus aquaticus
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Rallus aquaticus
Rallus aquaticus
Rallus aquaticus
Rallus aquaticus
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Rallus aquaticus
Rallus aquaticus
Rallus aquaticus
Rallus aquaticus
Rallus aquaticus
Rallus aquaticus
Rallus aquaticus
Rallus aquaticus
Rallus aquaticus