The weather is mild and spring like as I unwrap my sandwiches to a backdrop of singing goldcrest and great tit. A dipper passes north to south calling on its way. Cwmbran Boating Lake at lunchtime is marked by an increase in human activity. Soon the hordes of black-headed gull, the cormorant with the unreadable metal ring and the goosander will vacate, allowing park goers to enjoy that characteristic bird community of an urban parks, that is Canada goose, coot, moorhen and mallard and to complain about bird droppings.
As my sandwiches are reduced to a pile of laptop crumbs I catch a movement from within a nearby stand of phagmites. Then a straight bill reveals itself from the margins of the vegetation and within a moment a water rail with its busy searching demeanour is in the open, exposed and away from the safety of its botanical hideaway. A coot drifts in, both appear happy and willing to take whats left of my carefully crafted salad sandwiches. A dog walker passes oblivious to the potential of a close encounter with a shy, skulking water bird. Reaching for my camera - a standard accompaniment on my midday office escape - I fiddle with the settings dial to find video and start filming. After several seconds the bird has had enough and with a gently rustle its generically induced agoraphobia forces it back into the seclusion of the straw coloured waterside reeds.
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