Nicola photographed this rare visitor to the Trap Grounds today. In the UK, numbers of Spotted Flycatchers fell by 85 per cent between 1970 and 2015. So this was an honoured guest.
It was Nicola’s lucky day. Besides the Spotted Flycatcher, she got a glimpse of our most elusive resident, the Water Rail. More often heard than seen, uttering a high-pitched squeal from the depths of the reedbed, it rarely ventures out into the open. Perhaps the warm autumn sunshine tempted it out?
