Lewin’s Rail

Regarding the Lewin’s Rail, the Morcombe field guide states “Secretive and difficult to sight even momentarily in the swamps where it forages; tends to come into the open less than other rails.”.

To my delight I found a Lewin’s that contradicted the description in Morcombe. This bird foraged in the open on sand under mangrove trees on a tidal estuary and it allowed close approach without any sign of shyness.

It was late afternoon and the low sun angle meant the bird was receiving both direct light and light reflected off the adjacent water – a double dose of light. The light was filtered through extra atmosphere because of the low sun angle, plus fuel reduction burning in hinterland state forests meant smoke was also impacting the incoming light spectrum.

Hence the following photos show very rich and intense light bordering on the unnatural, although this is how the bird looked – the colour is not a product of digital enhancing.

The photos were captured as the bird foraged on sand, pecking up morsels revealed by a falling tide and sometimes driving its stout bill deep into the wet sand.

Please click on photos to enlarge.

The bird kept on the move as it searched the tide exposed sand for food.

The legs are short and solid.

The bird had a surprising reach when leaning forward with its neck stretched out.

In this photo the bird does look tubby as described in Pizzey & Knight.

The bill at times was inserted deep into the wet sand, leaving some sand adhering to its forehead.

The bird was photographed on the Corindi River estuary at the small coastal hamlet of Red Rock about 40km north of Coffs Harbour NSW. The location where the photos were taken did have dense cover however it was on the edge of a caravan park and a busy public park so the normally shy and reclusive Lewin’s had adapted to the presence of people.