Birding

A Buff-banded Rail in our garden!

December 9, 2012 by Clare M 6 Comments

Tuesday morning started off like every Tuesday.

We were awake just after 5:30am as it is light and we had coffee and got ready to face the day. At 06:30am I went to take our recycling bin out to the front of the house whilst Grant put his work boots on and I didn’t get far. I had just reached the front of the house and less than 10 metres from me I was faced by a Buff-banded Rail! Now, we don’t live in or near a wetland and it was obviously on its way to one, but landing in our front garden was just incredible! Thankfully we don’t shut the glass doors or windows on our home, so I easily caught Grant’s attention and he moved forward grabbing the camera so I could capture the moment. He pointed out that I was shaking with excitement and it might be best to balance the camera on the veranda! I took several photos in the early light and then a vehicle came down the street and it moved into next doors thick vegetation.

Buff-banded Rail amongst the houses!

Buff-banded Rail

Now this isn’t the first Buff-banded Rail of the year as we saw them at Parry’s Lagoon Nature Reserve and we have seen one at an ephemeral lake near Broome recently, but it is a first for our garden! We thought the Striated Heron in our garden last year was good, but this is even more bizarre!

There are some HUGE advantages of taking your recycling out early in the morning!

Written by Clare M
Clare and her husband, Grant, have lived permanently in Broome, Western Australia since 1999 after living in various outback locations around Western Australia and Darwin. She has lived in the Middle East and the United States and traveled extensively in Europe. She monitors Pied Oystercatchers breeding along a 23km stretch of Broome's coastline by bicycle and on foot. She chooses not to participate in social media, but rather wander off into the bush for peace and tranquility. Thankfully she can write posts in advance and get away from technology!