Water Rail

I went to 'Le Domain des Oiseaux' in Mazères in the Ariège department - next stop Spain ...

I saw lots of things and a second sighting of water rails - there were 3 of these shy and rare birds - result!

See this little water rail in more detail

Here is the same water rail a few seconds earlier swallowing a whole fish.

I didn't realise Water rails ate fish - I thought they just nibbled reeds and grass in a ladylike fashion - well I never!

When I got there I headed to a hide and noticed two women skulking about in a hedge with sticks pointing at something from where I had just walked. They looked pretty strange and I imagined they had a vicious dog that they were trying to keep from attacking passing walkers ... like me.

As I drew near, I noticed they had no dog and were still peering sheepishly around the hedge.
"Is that a real heron?" said one of them, gesturing to where I had just walked from.

I couldn't make out where she was pointing as I could see no heron, only the sheet metal cut-out of a heron with a sign displaying 'Le Domaine des Oiseaux'.

"There", she said pointing at the sign not 150 meters away.

The penny dropped ...

"Yes," I said, "and a very rare black one, you don't see them too often and if you approach it really slowly you might get a better glimpse".

"Oh, thank you" said the ladies as they crept up on the sheet metal heron as if they had completed a Royal Marines Swimmer / canoeist course.

I waved goodbye and headed on my way, so as they couldn't catch me ..

As I passed through a tunnel, just after seeing them, I noticed a huge graffiti scrawl on the wall of the tunnel "Vive les cochons de l'éspace!" - Long live Pigs in Space! ... I knew I was in the Ariège :))

A great day, lovely weather and lots to see.

I hope your Monday is a good one!