Marsh crake, Ahuriri Napier

[Grahame]

Hello Wayne. I would love a pdf map also please.
Regards,
Grahame

[Oscar Thomas]

Might as well post it here - or start a new crake-related post. (can I have it also please?)

[Wayne & Marg Twydle]

Oscar and Grahame: Have emailed the Ahuriri map to you. Hope you find it useful for whenever you are in Napier.
Regards
Wayne

[ourspot]

Hi Neil - maybe best to start a new post for the Crakes - didn't mean to hijack the Phalarope posts :)

Cheers Scott

[sav]

I was there at 5.30 pm on Monday for about an hour and the place was crawling with crakes! The water level is just right, and there must have been some pretty successful breeding recently. I can't imagine a better, easier, place for seeing these two species - but it might not last as the water level changes - so hurry!

We managed at least 2 adult and 2 juvenile Spotless Crakes, and at least 2 adult and 3 juvenile Baillon's Crakes. "At least" because we were having almost constant sightings, and there may well have been many more individuals.

The 2 Pectoral, and 3 Sharp-tailed Sands were also present (oh, and the Wilson's Phal....)

cheers

[sav]

Two immature Baillon's showing well today at 12.30 (!!) - they clearly haven't read the "Crakes Handbook"...... One Pectoral and 3 Sharp-tailed Sands also present.

cheers

[Nikki McArthur]

One spotless crake & one marsh crake showing early this morning (ca 6.30-7am). Really nice to cross paths with Wayne Twydle while there & very grateful to him for showing me the spot!

Two pectoral and three sharp-tailed sandpipers also seen at the western end of Southern Marsh, and distant view of the marsh sandpiper on the way back to the car. No sign of phalarope.

Nikki

[tim]

I just wanted some guidance on the plumages of Marsh Crake as there is a lot of conflicting images of adult Marsh Crake that don't look like adults or where ever the NZ sub species goes through a breeding plumage or its just the adult males that get the deep blue on the head and chest.
The adult marsh crakes that I have seen up at Tokanui wetlands and Lake Mcgregor have the deep blue (I know there was different lighting conditions in the photo but many of the adult photos look the same)
Where the ones I have seen at Napier all appear with the Juvenile or sub adult moulting into adult plumage but there could be an breeding plumage that is obtained by adults that due to there cryptic nature no one has identified.

There has defiantly been an variation in plumages and that some of the birds have started developing more blue white on there heads in the last week so the plumages appear to change quickly and the red eyes and speckled chest show up in different lighting conditions.

[Ian Southey]

Tim

Very impressive collection of pictures. I suspect the birds you have shown in the top three pictures are all young birds in various stages of plumage. I don't actually know Marsh Crakes but have spent a bit of time watching Banded Rails grow up and they take a while to get all the adult features, probably a few months. I started making notes on it last year but haven't actually made it out to see them for a while now...

I would be curious to hear other opinions

Ian

[tim]

Thanks Ian, that was what I thought too, I saw an 100% adult Marsh crake this morning and the first one I have seen after spending plenty of time at the spot.
I suspect a lot of people have been getting adults and juveniles mixed up as even NZ birds online has adults labelled incorrectly on some of the photos.