Quite A Surprise

I was doing my weekly routine of checking the areas between Furui-chi and Sekino-E last Friday, and surprisingly came across this little Ruddy-breasted Crake (Porzana fusca erythrothorax) standing still under the bright afternoon sun in a tiny pond full of hyacinth in front of the office's car park at Sekino-E. There were actually quite many people walking by the pond, but the bird just seemed to be so sleepy and didn't care about them at all. I think it was sunbathing, in order to get rid of the coldness. I've never seen such a tame Ruddy-breasted Crake like this before, and in the middle of winter as well!

Ruddy-breasted Crake (Porzana fusca erythrothorax)

The bird at least walked into the hyacinth to hide itself as I approached, but shortly came out into the open again once I have settled down. I noticed that it has a strange lump on its head which can be seen clearly from its right side. After asking my other colleagues, I've got the answer that it was actually an avian tick (Ixodes spp.). I've no idea if it hurts or not, but it looks terrible. Maybe that's one of the reasons why this bird was not as shy and fast as the normal ones. I visited the place again yesterday to see if it's still around or not, but seems like it has already left the place. Hope it continues to live long enough, even with that tick on its head.

Avian tick (Ixodes spp.)

It later walked out to feed on tiny insects in open water before sunset.