From Surfbirds News:
October 07, 2005
Birdwatchers at the London Wetland Centre last weekend were horrified when they witnessed a rare bird they had come to see being devoured by a Sparrowhawk in front of their eyes.
The Spotted Crake (Porzana porzana), a small diminutive member of the Rail family was first spotted at the centre on 25th September (one of 2 birds initially seen) and since then a steady stream of visitors arrived daily to see this rare spectacle. The last time this species was seen at the London Wetland Centre was in 1999, before the centre opened to the public.
Eye-witness Mike Waite described the moment this indistinct but alluring rarity met its fate: "It was last Saturday, 1st October, just after 4pm. A group of around a dozen visitors were watching the juvenile Spotted Crake through binoculars and telescopes as it obligingly fed out in the open along the muddy edge of the wader scrape.
All of a sudden WHACK! a handsome male Sparrowhawk swooped down and grabbed the bird in its talons. The latter struggled feebly for a short while, but the Sparrowhawk maintained its vice-like grip until flying off with its still twitching prey in its talons, into a tree on the Thames bank, to consume its rare victim.
Everyone in the hide was universally shocked, and outraged in a 'slaughter-of-the-innocents' kind of way! The Crake learned in the hardest possible way why its conspicuous behaviour was unbecoming of this species."
The London Wetland Centre commented: "It was quite a shock for visitors to see this rare bird come to such a violent end, but what they saw was evolution in action. The inexperienced juvenile Spotted Crake had been clearly visible for several days in the same area - it was only a matter of time before it came to the attention of a hungry predator. This experience shows why this species is normally shy and secretive!"
