Baillon's Crake
Porzana pusilla
The first documented (and, hopefully, accepted) record for Qatar. Photographed in the low early morning light at the foot of a gloomy reedbed. This individual was accompanied by another small crake, an equally elusive Water Rail and a shy African Swamphen. The second crake was probably another Baillon's Crake but it quickly disappeared before I could positively clinch the ID. It's a tantalizing thought that either there were two Baillon's or two different small crake species together with the Rail and Swamphen.
The Baillon's crake was seen on only this one occasion, over a period of about an hour and a half.
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