It's wet

on 2 fronts, not only the rain falling from the sky but also for the first time in a long time there is water at High Royd.

So I took a walk on along the canal, first highlight was a small tit flock containing Blue, Great, Coal and Long tails and a Nuthatch.

Next up a Grey wagtail flew past so far so good, as I approached the pools I could hear Teal whistling so was feeling positive. Unfortunately on arrival the nearest and most open pool was devoid of any bird life.

Jays flew back and forth and another Nuthatch called and then showed only a tree away giving great views at it searched for just the right nook in which to store it's peanut.

The middle pool which is covered in juncus revealed 4 male Teal so I got the scope out and sure enough the count went up, reaching 13 in total only 2 of which were females. Hoping that time might reveal more I decided to sit (stand) tight. An hour and several heavy rain showers later only additional birds were 8 BH Gulls and several Mallard which had come in from the canal.
So as my scope and for that matter everything else was wet through I decided to pack up and walk back, as I put the covers over my scope rapid movement on the fringe of the nearest pool caught my eye, the naked eye told me straight away this was a rail and knocking the eye cups off and bringing my bins up in a race against the fast moving rail I was able to confirm it was a Water Rail before it ducked back into cover.

May not have been the rarest of rails but a great sight none the less and a nice reward for sitting out the showers.

The middle pool could well have been hiding something else as the last thing to reveal itself was a Moorhen, the walk back took the Nuthatch count upto 3 and the final Jay count was a minimum of 4.

Good to know that the conservation group are looking at trying to save and improve this area it certainly has a much to offer and lots of potential.