Gillian Barnes, daughter of local birder Eric Barnes came upon the Little Crake at the Clovelly wetlands late on Wednesday afternoon 21 March. She and Eric returned to the spot on Thursday morning and took photos of the bird, unsure whether it was indeed a Little Crake or a young Baillon’s Crake or a Spotted Crake. She sent the photos to Trevor Hardaker who in turn sent them to bird experts John Graham, Peter Ryan, Phil Hockey and Cliff Dorse. The team of experts visited the ponds on Thursday afternoon and were overjoyed to positively identify the bird as indeed being a Little Crake. This may be the first sighting of this bird south of the equator. Soon almost 50 twitchers were on the scene to view the feathered visitor who is still causing a stir.
The Little Crake (Porzana parva) is found over a wide area extending from Central Europe to Kazakhstan and Sinkiang and in patches of Western Europe during the summer season. It overwinters in the Mediterranean basin, West Africa (Senegal and Niger) and East Africa ( Kenya and Uganda). www.birdguides .com lists it as a rare species.
The Little Crake lays 4-7 eggs amongst reeds. The adult male is mainly brown in the upperparts with a blue-grey face and underparts. It has a short straight yellow bill with a red base and green legs with long toes.
The female Little Crake has buff underparts and is grey only in the face.
Little Crakes mainly eat insects and aquatic animals. They are very secretive during the breeding season and unlike Victorian children are heard rather than seen. It makes its presence known with a noisy yelping kua call.
Viv
Clovelly info provided by Evanne Rothwell from email from Trevor Hardaker. http://www.hardaker.co.za/
Photo 1: Sion Stanton (Copyright)
Photos 2 & 3 : Peter Ryan (Copyright)
Other sources:
www.birdguides .com, www.wikipedia.org, www.avibirds.com
For Eric Barne’s Birdlist for Clovelly and the Fish hoek valley see
https://scenicsouth.co.za//2012/01/bird-list-for-the-clovelly-fish-hoek-valley/
For other interesting encounters with local wildlife see
https://scenicsouth.co.za//environment/photo-gallery/
For information about the Silvermine Wetlands see
https://scenicsouth.co.za//2011/05/a-history-of-the-silvermine-river-by-lewis-walter/
https://scenicsouth.co.za//2012/01/friends-of-silvermine-nature-area-january-2012-newsletter/
Glencairn wetlands issues:
https://scenicsouth.co.za//2012/03/glencairn-wetlands-geese-agm-25-march-2012/
Self-catering Accommodation in the heart of Clovelly near to wetlands:
Clovelly Studio Ph
The Mountain House Ph
15 Comment
Trevor Hardaker, March 29, 2012 at 5:10 pm
I am trying to put together a database of all people who have made a special trip to specifically see this bird, even if it was only a kilometre or two…:)
Please email me your details and how many people were in your group and where you came from to so that I can add your names to my list. As at 16h00 on 29 March 2012, I am already aware of almost 500 individuals that have been to see her, over 90 of which travelled from outside of the Cape to get here specifically to see her!
Nevertheless, this bird has been thoroughly enjoyed by the entire South African birding community and, if she stays long enough, there will probably be another wave of upcountry visitors arriving to enjoy her this weekend…:)
ReplyViv, March 27, 2012 at 8:24 pm
Hi Carin
For an answer to your question: what will happen to the Little Crake see
https://scenicsouth.co.za//2012/03/little-crake-in-silvermine-wetlands-at-clovelly-update/
ReplyLittle Crake in Silvermine wetlands at Clovelly update | The Scenic South, March 27, 2012 at 8:17 pm
[...] See also https://scenicsouth.co.za//2012/03/first-sighting-of-little-crake-in-southern-africa-at-clovelly-… [...]
ReplyJacques, March 27, 2012 at 9:23 am
Hi Viv
Thank you so much for the information, very much appreciated. Going to shoot there straight after work today. Have my binoculars and camera ready on my desk, resulting in some baffled looks from my colleagues.
Thanks again.
Jacques
ReplyViv, March 26, 2012 at 9:59 pm
Hi Jacques
When coming from kalk Bay on Main Road you turn at the Clovelly Road traffic lights into Clovelly (the Clovelly beach parking lot will be on your left). As soon as you have turned into Clovelly Road you will see another parking lot on your left- more or less opposite where they are working on the pump station. Park your vehicle in this parking lot and follow the clearly demarcated path that runs alongside the wetlands away from the sea and you will soon come across the pond on your left. You will probably see the cameras and the binocs. If not, it is the pond that is directly below the house for sale on the road above it, which is Hilton Rd. Enjoy the birding!
ReplyJacques, March 26, 2012 at 7:20 pm
Hi, excuse my ignorance, but could somebody please let me know how to get to the location.
Thanks
ReplyViv, March 25, 2012 at 9:03 pm
Dear Carin
From conversation snippets picked up at the wetlands on Friday I got the impression that the Cittle Crake is feeding in preparation for making her way home again. I will get in touch with some bird fundies for a more erudite answer!
Viv
ReplyRae Arnott (Gilbert), March 25, 2012 at 4:23 pm
My parents have shared the excitement of the Little Crake-so glad to be able to go onto scenicsouth and see the write up and photos of this sweet looking bird from so far away-there is no better place to land than Fishoek! Wish I was there! Rae in Perth
ReplyEvanne Rothwell, March 25, 2012 at 11:05 am
Many thanks to the twitchers who were so happy to share their awesome equipment by letting us lesser mortals have a look throught their scopes. It made a fabulous experience even better. Thanks, you guys – we didn’t get all your names, but really appreciate it. Many thank, also, to Basie van Zyl for so kindly sharing one of his photos so that we could update the City Biodiversity database.
ReplyCarin, March 24, 2012 at 8:14 pm
What will happen to this little bird? Will it find its way back north at some point?
ReplyExtraordinary image of Little Crake at Silvermine wetlands in Clovelly | The Scenic South, March 24, 2012 at 4:30 pm
[...] See also https://scenicsouth.co.za//2012/03/first-sighting-of-little-crake-in-southern-africa-at-clovelly-w… [...]
ReplyRichard Martin, March 24, 2012 at 12:46 pm
What an amazing sighting. I hope this will give more weight to continue financing the protection of the area.
ReplyFrancoise, March 23, 2012 at 5:12 pm
I am SO scooping the big boys with this story to my Facebook travel page.
Yes, big thanks to John for this news and link.
ReplyViv, March 23, 2012 at 5:04 pm
15.30
ReplyI have just spent two hours at the Silvermine River wetland in Clovelly watching the Little Crake feeding voraciously, small in comparison to the juvenile Moorhen feeding nearby and the four resident African Snipes wading amongst the reeds. The young bird appeared to be totally oblivious to the excitement she is creating, with birders flying in from all over South Africa. The first birders from Gauteng arrived at about 10am this morning, with those from Durban arriving soon after. Apparently Little Crakes are not good flyers so it really is extraordinary that she has arrived here at the southern end of Africa. Trevor Hardaker was interviewed by John Maythem on Cape Talk a few minutes ago and he said that this is an example of ‘reverse migration’, the young crake flying 180 degrees south instead of north back to its summer grounds. ‘It ended up at Clovelly because it had run out of land!’
See also Eric Barne’s Clovelly and Fish Hoek valley birdlist: https://scenicsouth.co.za//2012/01/bird-list-for-the-clovelly-fish-hoek-valley/
Daniel Gie, March 23, 2012 at 4:46 pm
what a lovely site …. thanks to john at Capetalk, and all the dedicated people.
Reply