Country diary: this bird could be spooked by its own shadow

Rockland Broad, Norfolk The water rail’s distressed call tells you everything about its solitary life buried in deepest coverAs the light falls in my neighouring parish and the mercury drops, so the bird sounds acquire extra layers of intensity. I’m thinking of the hysterical chinking of blackbirds in the ivy and the disembodied sharp pitt notes of Cetti’s warblers. Most evocative of all, however, are the water rails.Related to the moorhen and coot, this arch introvert is long-