Little spotted bird

In the evening Martijn and I went to Tienhoven to look for a Night heron. In Tienhoven the last breeding pair (wild?) Night herons of Holland breed, and it happens to be around the corner with Hilversum. Last year the heron had specific times to pass the marshes (11 pm) but this year it seemed harder, many birders had looked for it (you can't really call it looking, you just stand on a dike waiting for the bird to pass) but none had succeeded. We didn't succeeded either but we had a lot of fun with this shrew.


^Those South American rocks sure taste weird!

From the Binnenpolder a Bittern was calling, 1 Green sandpiper was foraging and a Great White Egret was present. In the Tienhovense plassen a few Black terns and 2 Spoonbills past overhead.
In 2005 the conditions in Polder Achteraf where so good that multiple couples of Baillons Crake breed there, the number rose from 2 to 9 birds! Although 3 where actualy accepted by the CDNA (The commision who checks if rare birds should appear on the Dutch lists).
In 2006 one of the best bird-sound experts (Magnus Robb) found at least 1 bird, this bird didn't call frequently and was very hard to hear.
So, since we where near Polder Achteraf we decided to check that. It was midnight and we almost checked the entire area. The last stop, waiting, and then: shrrrrrrk. Was that it? Martijn didn't seemed so sure but I was! Then again, this was definately a Baillons Crake. Although it didn't call the 'usual' long, frog like rattle, but a far more shorter one almost whith a whisteling under tone. The bird was pretty close so Martijn and I got our cameras and recorded the bird as best we could.



^This one is from Martijn

The next thing is kind of freaky and must be one of my weirdest bird experiences.
Short after we heird 1 bird a presumed 2nd bird started calling, because the strenght of the song can diver from the direction the bird is calling we didn't know for sure. Short after, the 2 birds started calling simultaneously, that was pretty cool. The next moment the bird that was closest to us started moving from us (hearing the strenght of the song), it seemed like the 2 birds where calling next to eachother in a grassland, we couldn't see anything though. Next thing 1 call started to get very strong in a short period of time, then it sounded right in front of us, and then (!?!?) above us! One of the birds was scared away by the other and was flying away! It flew a circle around us before (presumably) landing in the meadow, Martijn and I just stared at eachother, we couldn't believe it. This wasn't just an incident because we heard the same thing later on.
It is commonly known that rails, crakes and coots can call during flight and often do. They are allso known for their night-migration habit. In the Netherlands Coots calling while migrating during the evening is often mistaken for Long-eared Owls. Which isn´t that weird when you come to think about it.